Proudly partnering with education changemakers
Attending professional conferences is always informative and inspiring.
This fall’s National College Attainment Network (NCAN) conference in Dallas offered many reminders that the work our partners and colleagues are doing makes a tremendous difference for students in Texas.
Here are some of our favorite moments from the conference:
One of our GTF Scholars at Texas A&M University, Vanessa Perez, joined a panel with her Program Coordinator, Bonnie Davila, to share how the GTF Scholars program supported student success during the isolation and financial strains of the COVID era. Leslie Gurrola and Tessa Pennington facilitated the talk.
Texas College Access Network (TxCAN) hosted its first pitch competition to identify scalable, progressive initiatives for a brighter educational future in Texas. From 34 strong submissions, the Emerge Fellowship was selected as the winner and received a $5,000 grant to advance their work. Congratulations to Emerge!
In alignment with our focus on rural collaborations, Greater Texas Foundation proudly sponsored the Rural Strategies track at the conference where, not surprisingly, presenters from Texas took center stage in sharing their work with the nation.
Greater Texas Foundation and Trellis Foundation partnered to host a reception honoring our Texas grantees and partners who attended the national conference. Attendees enjoyed catching up on news and swapping success stories. And, of course, Trellis Foundation brought their signature socks to give away!
At the Closing Plenary session, a panel of three college students shared how NCAN programs helped them achieve their goals for postsecondary education. We were particularly pleased to see a GTF Scholar, Jordy Mendoza from University of Houston Downtown, speaking eloquently on the panel.
Grantmaking Update
Since our founding, Greater Texas Foundation has awarded more than $142 million in grants to changemakers in Texas education. This summer, we approved grants to the following organizations:
Alamo Colleges Foundation
$142,630
A cohort-based approach to enhancing student success at Northeast Lakeview College
The University of Texas as San Antonio
$299,870
The Cost of Experience Project
Young Invincibles
$200,000
How Narratives Can Shift Apprenticeship in Texas
Grantees Demonstrating Their Impact
We’re happy to share these new resources from grantees whose programs are flourishing. Check them out and be inspired!
Economic Mobility Systems highlights the voices of students who are benefiting from the Rural College Promise program in the Sherman/Denton/Tyler region and shares the program’s successful structure
Teach for America is building new teacher professional development programs to address the gaps in math education in Texas.
This blog shares the early results they are achieving, including praise from school principals and increased confidence and persistence among participating teachers.
Coming in 2024: New strategic plan
Now in our third decade of grantmaking, Greater Texas Foundation remains committed to helping Texas students pursue education and success after high school by earning a college degree or credential of value.
As we look to the new year, the foundation is reflecting on the success of our current strategic plan, reviewing lessons learned, monitoring the state educational landscape, and beginning to develop a new strategic plan. This process ensures we stay true to our mission and to the students of Texas. We look forward to sharing the new plan with you in 2024.
