PLENARIES

Each day of the Conference will challenge attendees to consider critical issues impacting the lives of children, youth and families and the role grantmakers play in strengthening families and communities and creating promising futures for all.

Day1: Wednesday, October 10

Opening Plenary: Our Shared Challenge of Creating Promising Futures for All – Program and Policy Implications
8:30am – 10:30am
Recent demographic shifts have transformed the faces of our communities and challenged public and private funders to respond, sometimes rapidly, to the changing needs of children, youth and families. Against the backdrop of a peaceful, majestic southwestern landscape, our host city of El Paso is a virtual laboratory of demographic changes taking place in the United States and provides the perfect setting for exploring the impact of immigration, migration and changing demography on this country.  Drawing on the experience of the Paso del Norte region, where three states and two countries converge, the opening plenary will challenge grantmakers to consider major demographic trends, such as the “browning of America” and shifting family structures  that necessitate comprehensive and intergenerational strengthening approaches, as well as critical trends that are changing the way people live – continued and increased  poverty that threatens family economic security, and fragmented systems and policies that  postpone the progress of vulnerable families and communities.  This plenary will set the context for the conference and provide grantmakers with valuable insights to best support positive, long-term outcomes for children youth and families.

Confirmed Presenters:
 
 
  Isabel V. Sawhill, Ph.D., Senior Fellow in Economic Studies, The Brookings Institution
 


 
  James H. Johnson, Jr., Director, Urban Investment Strategies Center, Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private     Enterprise, University of North Carolina
 


Moderator:


  Beverly Buck, Trustee, The Aloha Foundation, Denver, CO




Lunch Plenary: Bringing the Promise of More and Better Education
12:30pm – 2:00pm
Seeking a better life for our children, for ourselves, and for our communities is the quintessential American value.  Educational achievement is widely seen as the most important path to individual and community success, strongly tied to health status, income, wealth, and employment.  Conversely, low educational attainment in parents is tied to their children’s poor early childhood development and lower educational achievement in older children and youth.  Those with the lowest educational achievement are the hardest hit by the recent  economic downturn, further perpetuating a cycle of youth and adults who cannot hope to afford or achieve more or better education.  What we hoped to be a downturn that would correct itself has become the “new normal” – fragile poor communities with public and private resource deficits that further complicate the barriers to education and other opportunities that lead to a more promising future.  In addition, significant educational disparities exist for many sub-groups of youth and young adults, such as black and brown youth, those with disabilities and/or involvement in the child welfare or juvenile justice systems, further complicating their ability to compete in a global economy.  This session will explore the challenges that many vulnerable youth and adults face in seeking high quality education and examine how private grantmakers of all sizes and shapes can better align with public resources to ensure that all youth graduate from high school with hope and the possibility of receiving more and better education for a more promising future.

Confirmed Presenters:


  Diana S. Natalicio, Ph.D., President, The University of Texas at El Paso
 


 

  Richard Rhodes, Ph.D., President/CEO, Austin Community College District
 
 

Moderator:

  Richard Jarvis, Ph.D., Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, University of Texas El Paso

Day 2: Thursday, October 11

Morning/Ideazlab Plenary: Responding Effectively and Responsibly to the Changing Needs of Communities
8:45am – 10:30am
Building on Day 1, this plenary session will dig deeper into what changing demographics, and related themes of immigration and migration, really mean for children, youth and families.  Utilizing an “Ideazlab” format featuring a panel of experts followed by in-depth breakout discussions with each expert, this plenary will engage key leaders and experts from the fields of early childhood education, youth engagement and organizing, family and community strengthening, and public policy to consider how changing demographics are impacting programs and policies, including the unique challenges faced by both immigrant/migrant families and communities and other fragile individuals and populations facing barriers to public and private resources or economic independence. Brief and dynamic presentations by each panelist will set the frame for small group discussions between plenary participants and individual panelists to explore how immigration, migration and changing demographics are or will be impacting their grantmaking communities, and specific lessons and strategies they can apply in their own work to improve outcomes for marginalized children, youth and families and communities.

Confirmed Presenters:  

 
   Alan Jenkins, J.D., Executive Director and Co-Founder, The Opportunity Agenda
 

     

  Amber Goodwin, Director of Network Initiatives, Mobilize.org
 


  

  Linda K. Smith,Deputy Assistant Secretary and Inter-Departmental Liaison for Early Childhood
  Development, Administration on Children and Families, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services


  Christine A. W. Doby, Program Officer, Building Organized Communities, C. S. Mott Foundation
Moderator: 

  
  Stephanie McGencey, Ph.D., Executive Director, Grantmakers for Children, Youth and Families





Lunch Plenary: Fred Rogers & Emerging Leader Awards Presentation and Plenary Presentation
12:30pm – 1:30pm
A special networking plenary luncheon will feature presentation of the 2012 Fred Rogers Leadership Award in Philanthropy for Children, Youth, and Families. Since 2003, GCYF has given this prestigious award annually in memory “Mr. Rogers”, one of the country's most beloved advocates for children. The award recognizes outstanding contributions and leadership by grantmaking staff, trustees and donors in all fields of CYF philanthropy. Each year, GCYF celebrates the recipient of the award at its annual convening, and the award includes a donation to the charity of the recipient's choice.  And for the first time, GCYF will honor a grantmaker (staff, Trustee or Donor) with the Emerging Leader Award in Philanthropy for Children, Youth and Families. This award honors a grantmaker under 40 years of age or with less than Seven years of full-time experience in philanthropy who has demonstrated leadership and collaboration that has helped their organization to be a leader in the field of children, youth and family philanthropy.  

Day 3: Friday, October 12

Closing Plenary: Fulfilling the Promise
9:00am – 10:30am
Families and communities strive to create legacies for their children that ensure the American dream of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Today’s youth grow up to become the leaders of tomorrow.  From their infancy, our children, regardless of their race or their socioeconomic status, remain our deepest and most inspiring symbol of hope and opportunity. The Annual Conference will culminate in a discussion about how philanthropy can work to fulfill this promise and address:

• How changes in policy and in political leadership affect our country’s most vulnerable populations;
• How supporting the values of diversity, inclusion, and equity can strengthen the fabric of our society;
• How public and private funders can support communities and nonprofits, ensuring sufficient capacity and resources to serve vulnerable populations; and
• How public and private funders can work together to enable the greatest collective impact.