All In Brownsville

Goal: Double the number of low-income, young adults with postsecondary credentials with labor market value.

 "This country is built on ingenuity. It's built on having well-educated people. And if you were from a poor family, how are you going to break out of that? Well, education is the only way. Education is the thing that 20 years from now will determine if this country is as strong and just as we want it to be."

 - Bill Gates

 Launched with a $1.5 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and substantial funding from local businesses and individual stakeholders, All In is a partnership working to improve education and create pathways to quality careers. United Way of Southern Cameron County serves as the lead agency for the partnership that includes:

Brownsville Chamber of Commerce * Brownsville Independent School District * Cardenas Development * Community Development Corporation of Brownsville *Project VIDA (Valley Initiative for Development and Advancement) * Texas Southmost College *  University of Texas RGV * Wells Fargo Advisors * Workforce Solutions Cameron

Key Taskforces

Data Taskforce - Charged with creating a data management system and repository of student achievement, labor demand and employment data from multiple sources to move Brownsville toward a culture of evidence in partner organizations and the community at large. This taskforce is also to develop and distribute a community indicator report on education to spark data-driven discussions about community issues. To see the 2013 Community Indicator Report on Human Capital and Education please click here:  http://allinbrownsville.org/assets/CommunityIndicatorReport.pdf

Co-Chairs: Irv Downing (UTRGV) & Nelda Najera (CDCB)

Members: Juan Andres Rodriguez (UTRGV), Wendy Hanson (UWSCC)

 

Community Engagement Taskforce - Responsible for creating and delivering a robust community awareness campaign illustrating the connection between postsecondary credentials and future financial stability for low-income, young adults.
PPS Student Ambassadors are UTB college students who return to their local BISD high schools and talk to juniors and seniors about connecting to and succeeding in postsecondary institutions.

Co-Chairs: Dr. Sylvia Leal (UTRGV) & Merrill Hammons (BISD)Members: Jill Williams, Blanca Davila
 
 
Policies and Practices - Responsible for strategically aligning partners' institutional policies and practices to PPS goals, including curriculum alignment, a focus on career pathways, programs to increase first-year retention, and increased internship, mentorship and job shadowing opportunities.
Co-Chairs: Ethel Cantu (retired) & Jill Williams Members:  Melinda Rodriguez (Texas Southmost College),  Irv Downing (UTRGV), Erika Sikes (BISD),  Priscilla Alvarez (Project VIDA), Pat Hobbs (Workforce Solutions Cameron),  Pilar Janis (BISD), Rosie Pena (UTRGV)
 
 
Sustainability Taskforce - Strengthens the parternship's reach, effectiveness, and sustainability by engaging community leaders, students and other diverse stakeholders to contribute intellectual and financial capital to PPS and by dedicating additional staff resources.
Chair: Reba Cardenas-McNair (Cardenas Development)
Members: Irv Downing (UTRGV) & Traci Wickett (UWSCC)
 

 

For more information about All-In Brownsville visit: http://allinbrownsville.org/