Coming Together Around a Common Vision

What could be accomplished if we all shared the same vision for the future of New Mexico’s children and youth?  If we could put aside our differences, find common ground, and rally around a single goal for their future, would New Mexico look different in 10 years?  20 years?

That’s the question that was framed by a national foundation that is investing significant resources  -- more than $16 million this year – into New Mexico to build healthy, educated children today for stronger families tomorrow.  The W.K. Kellogg Foundation from Battle Creek, Michigan has taken a strong interest in helping propel vulnerable children in New Mexico forward to success.  They hosted a gathering of all their grantees and partners from across the state to share their desire help the state’s more than 160,000 children have a bright, productive future, which in turn builds not just health and wellbeing for them and their families, but a strong and sustainable economic future for the state.

One of those investments is in The Bridge of Southern New Mexico.  For years, The Bridge and the Regional Educational Initiative before it, was a grassroots organization driven by community-minded leaders with a passion to help children, a desire to build a strong and sustainable workforce and economy, and a willingness by our educational institutions to invest and to innovate.  This investment will benefit several key partners who are creating and implementing sustainable strategies for change, as well as increasing the capacity of The Bridge.

The bottom line is that Kellogg is investing in the vision that Dona Ana County took time to develop, but now is very focused on  – helping students reach high school graduation trained and ready for college and/or careers.  The Bridge and a host of parallel initiatives are moving toward this same goal together – not in competition or in silos – but in collaboration and partnership.  It’s much easier to work together toward a goal when you’ve all agreed on what that is, where you’re going, and what you want to see when you get there.  Begin with the end in mind.

That’s also become the shared vision for the state’s leadership, as the Secretaries of Public Education, Higher Education, Workforce Solutions, and Economic Development are working together toward the same vision: All New Mexico youth graduate ready to compete in an international workforce.  As they begin to rally around this vision, they’ll look across the state for communities with the willingness to collaborate and the partnerships that can bring this vision to reality like we are now beginning to see in Dona Ana County.                   

The sign that this vision is becoming reality is already starting to show:  graduation rates went up countywide from 51% in 2008 to 67% in 2009.  However, The Bridge’s goal is to achieve the highest graduation rate in the state, so that ALL students graduate – that’s right – ALL students.  So clearly, we’ve got some work to do.

We are grateful to the Kellogg Foundation for sharing in our vision and becoming investment and learning partners with us.  I hope they are the first of many in the philanthropic community who find much to learn from the shared vision and commitment of this county’s business community and educational institutions, as we continue to work together to bring the vision to reality for the benefit of this and future generations.