GE Foundation Partners with America's Promise to Support GradNation Campaign

WASHINGTON, July 14, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The GE Foundation has become an official partner of the America's Promise Alliance GradNation Campaign. Through its leadership and support for the college- and career-ready components of the campaign, the GE Foundation will help guide 24 GradNation Community Summits throughout 2014 and 2015.

America's Promise and the GE Foundation will convene a series of learning sessions that raise awareness about the importance of preparing all students for college and workforce success. Taking place across the United States as part of the GradNation Community Summits, these events will bring together community, business and education experts to examine current standards, successful programs, and other supports young people need to thrive in and after high school. Also running throughout these discussions will be demonstrations of how business partnerships are supporting quality education.

"The goals of the GradNation campaign extend beyond increasing the number of students who receive a high school diploma," said John Gomperts, president and CEO, America's Promise Alliance. "The real goal of the campaign is to help young people become better prepared to succeed in an ever-changing world and workforce, and showing their communities how to support their development. There are few partners better equipped to help us with this work than the GE Foundation."

Led by America's Promise and launched in March 2010, GradNation is a large and growing movement of dedicated individuals, organizations and communities working together to raise the national high school graduation rate to 90 percent by 2020 with more students ready for college and the workforce. For the first time in history, more than 80 percent of all U.S. high school students are receiving a diploma within four years. 

"For more than half a century, the GE Foundation has been committed to supporting advancements in American education. From supporting increasing access to education to elevating the dialogue about student preparedness, we are proud of our long history of partnering with organizations that share our commitment to this important issue," said Kelli Wells, GE Foundation Director of Education Programming. "America's Promise and the GradNation Campaign are making tremendous strides in accelerating student success and we're excited to partner with an accomplished and committed organization to engage communities across the U.S. on improving academic achievement."

The GradNation Community Summits are a series of 100 cross-sector meetings, held through the end of 2016, that focus on advancing local and regional efforts to achieve the GradNation goals. America's Promise works with partners in each community to create an event that best fits local priorities, needs, and capacity. Following its Summit, each community develops or refines a multi-year action plan, including adopting key metrics and a process for regular updates and additional local discussions. A total of 14 Summits were held in 2013 and 25 are scheduled for 2014.  For a full list visit: http://www.americaspromise.org/communitysummits.

SOURCE America's Promise Alliance