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College Readiness Initiative

Overview

  CRI

The College Readiness Initiative (CRI) is a dynamic platform for business and higher education to work together to promote college readiness, access, and success for underserved populations, particularly in science and math. The CRI harnesses the influence and resources of BHEF and its membership, a unique cross-section of prominent corporate, higher education, and foundation leaders.

The CRI is led by BHEF members Charles Reed, chancellor of The California State University System, and David Jones, chairman of Humana Inc., and a BHEF Member Working Group of senior executives.

Building on this distinctive cross-sector perspective, the CRI:

  • Addresses critical issues in the preschool-through-graduate school education pipeline;
  • Identifies practical solutions to local education concerns;
  • Focuses on systemic solutions and programs that support systemic change; and
  • Creates a platform for local/state member-led partnerships to develop strategic approaches, test them, and disseminate lessons learned.

Implementation Strategies

The CRI achieves these goals through engagement, knowledge-building, dissemination, and advocacy and action, which infuse five inter-related strategies:

1. Engagement of CEOs to raise awareness and create a network of leaders equipped to advance these goals.

2. Symposia to share knowledge about these issues and to build a corporate philanthropy community of practice.

3. StrategicEdSolutions,™ a Web-based resource center to disseminate research and information on strategies, replicable programs, and tools and research.

4. On-the-ground teams of corporate, university, and foundation leaders working to improve college readiness and success; this includes tools, information, hands-on consultation, and resource sharing.

5. A public-awareness campaign to change public and parental attitudes about the imperative to improve college readiness, access and success.

You can download a one-page pdf on the initiative here.

Financial Support

The CRI is supported by BHEF members’ dues and funding from USA Funds, the Goldman Sachs Foundation, the Humana Foundation, the Nationwide Foundation, the KPMG Foundation, TIAA-CREF, the Sallie Mae Fund, GlaxoSmithKline, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

For more information about why your organization should invest in improving student achievement, college readiness, and success and why the CRI’s strategies most effectively address those needs, contact Brian.Fitzgerald@bhef.com or Nancy.Kuhn@bhef.com.