Building a Grad Nation Summit
March 18-21, 2012 at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, DC
REGISTER TODAY!
Registration
To register for the summit, please click here. There is no cost to register, and all are welcome to attend.
About the Conference
The Building a Grad Nation Summit is the premier event of Grad Nation, our 10-year campaign to end the high school dropout crisis and prepare young people for college and the 21st century workforce.
The Grad Nation campaign has two specific goals:
- To increase the national graduation rate to 90 percent by 2020 with no school graduating less than 80 percent
- To regain America’s standing as first in the world in college completion
Addressing these critical issues requires all sectors of our communities working together in new, more coordinated ways. And that’s exactly what this annual gathering helps bring about. The summit brings together community organizations, educators, local and state leaders, national nonprofit organizations, businesses, youth and others to not only share progress but also catalyze additional action.
Building on the success of the first summit in 2011, the 2012 summit will bring together hundreds of participants on March 18-21 in Washington, D.C. to focus on progress being made against the Grad Nation goals in communities and states across the nation. Additionally, millions of others will be engaged through online outreach and media coverage.
The central theme of the 2012 summit will be the strong connection between quality education and thriving, economically sound communities.
The summit provides an important national platform to:
- Continue to build awareness about high school graduation and post-secondary success issues
- Help participants create valuable connections across networks
- Inspire and motivate by highlighting local, state and national successes
- Educate and engage participants through collaborative discussions
- Provide participants with the tools and knowledge they need to turn awareness into action, and to potentially replicate successes seen elsewhere
- Report on our nation’s progress on key indicators relevant to the Grad Nation goals
VIEW THE FULL AGENDA.
Conveners
America’s Promise Alliance is pleased to host the Building a Grad Nation Summit in partnership with the Alliance for Excellent Education, Civic Enterprises, and the Everyone Graduates Center at Johns Hopkins University.
Sponsors
America's Promise Alliance is pleased to recognize the sponsors of the Building a Grad Nation Summit.
Youth Scholarship Recipients
Young leaders will play a major role in the 2012 Building a Grad Nation Summit. This is a great opportunity for these young leaders to meet other individuals like themselves from across the country as well as other participants working to rally for awareness and change in education. A committee of 13 young people, responsible for planning pre-conference sessions for youth, selected 50 youth to receive scholarships to attend the summit. Learn more about these outstanding youth.
Program “At-A-Glance”
Note: Schedule is subject to change. All activities are open to all participants unless otherwise noted.
VIEW THE FULL AGENDA.
Sunday, March 18
2:00pm Registration Opens
1:00-6:00pm Youth Leaders Preconference (youth only)
6:00pm Welcome Reception
Monday, March 19
7:00-7:45am Breakfast
7:45-10:00am Opening Plenary Session
10:15-11:45am Concurrent Sessions
12:00-1:30pm Lunch Plenary Session
1:30-2:45pm Open Networking Time
2:45-4:00pm Concurrent Sessions
4:15-5:45pm Concurrent Sessions
6:30-8:00pm Dinner Plenary Session
Tuesday, March 20
7:00-7:45am Breakfast
7:45-10:00am Morning Plenary Session
10:15-11:45am Concurrent Sessions
12:00-1:30pm Closing Lunch Plenary Session
2:00-5:00pm (Optional) Post-Conference Activities (Hill Day Prep; others TBD)
Wednesday, March 21
Time TBD Hill Day (optional)
Conference Location
Marriott Wardman Park 2660 Woodley Road, NW
Washington, D.C. 20008
(202) 328-2000
Lodging
All events will take place at the
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, DC. The deadline for reduced rates has passed, but you may still call the hotel directly at (202) 328-2000 to make reservations or reserve online. Rooms are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Partner Participant Directory
The Partner Participant Directory is an easy way to see which America's Promise Alliance Partners will be in attendance and what initiatives they have connected to Grad Nation in order to facilitate more directed networking. If you are an Alliance partner attending the Summit and would like to be included in this directory, please email Savanna Nilsen.
Promotional Materials
Spread the word about the Building a Grad Nation Summit to your networks! The conference is open to any individuals interested in contributing to the dropout prevention discussion. The template information provided can be used for newsletters, Facebook, Twitter and more to help engage a broad audience.
Engaging in Social Media
We encourage you to engage your social networks by tweeting and posting on Facebook and Twitter on topics related to Grad Nation and dropout prevention efforts. Follow America's Promise Alliance Twitter feed @fivepromises and share your comments on Twitter using the hashtag #gradnation. Visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/americaspromise and share your comments and photos from the event.