Local leaders including Sen. Bob Graham join Knight Foundation in summit to increase youth engagement
MIAMI, May 29 – In a city where Millennials are amongst the least civically engaged in the nation, more than 100 students will gather in June to discuss, and take action on ways to get more young people involved in the community and completing their college degrees.
At the Mobilize.org Target 2020 Florida Summit, held June 1 – 3 at the Deauville Beach Resort, and funded by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, students will share challenges they face in achieving their academic goals – and collaborate on solutions that will help all students overcome them. The top five solutions, proposed as projects and selected by summit participants using keypad voting technology, will win a share of $25,000 from Mobilize.org and a year of expert support to be implemented as campus, community or online projects.
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Also at the summit, Sen. Bob Graham and local leaders will release the Miami Millennial Civic Health Report, which found that Miami’s residents ages 18-30 ranked lower than their counterparts across the state and nation on indicators like volunteering and voting. Young adults without any college experience were particularly cut off from civic life. A panel with Sen. Graham, Miami Dade Schools’ Alberto Carvalho and Miami Dade College’s executive director of Student Success and Completion Initiatives Dr. Lenore Rodicio will spark a conversation on how to engage Miami’s young residents.
The Florida Joint Center for Citizenship, founded by Sen. Graham and Congressman Lou Frey, and the National Conference on Citizenship, produced the report.
“There are few tasks more important than providing the next generation with pathways to engagement in civic life. Successful completion of that task requires young people who care about community issues and local institutions that can provide them with opportunities to learn about civic work by doing it. The leadership that Miami Dade College is providing with Mobilize.org is an important example of how one local institution can achieve that goal. The report that we are releasing today is an indication, however, that we are not doing enough in South Florida. As public and private leaders, we have an obligation to join together to build a sustainable framework that insures that all of our young people have opportunities to experience civic life and to build the skills of responsible, effective and honorable citizenship.”
“Nationally, four out of five teens say they want to be involved in community action and social change, yet only a quarter of young adults actually take part. There’s a huge, untapped resource there of people to better their communities. They need an open door, they need to be asked to contribute,” said Damian Thorman, national program director for Knight Foundation, which funded Mobilize.org’s expansion to Miami and three other cities. “Through their summits, Mobilize.org engages young adults who are naturally passionate about their communities, and turns that energy into action.”
The Target 2020 Florida Summit will feature a keynote address by Dr. Martha J. Kanter, under secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, a former community college president and chancellor in California and the first community college leader to serve in the under secretary position. In addition, participants will meet with Dr. Eduardo Padrón, president of Miami Dade College, Isa Adney author of “Community College Success,” and Thorman of Knight Foundation.
“Mobilize.org believes that Millennial community college students have the unique experiences and innovative ideas that will change the future of education and civic health across the country,” Mobilize.org CEO Maya Enista Smith said. “This summit is an opportunity for those student engagement and college completion ideas to become a reality with an investment from Mobilize.org that will make an impact on student success and Millennial civic health in Miami.”
Partners of the Target 2020 Florida Summit include AmeriCorps Alums, Catalyst Miami, College Summit, HandsOn Broward, Miami Dade College Center for Community Involvement and Public Allies Miami. National summit partners include the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Lumina Foundation for Education.
For more information and a complete schedule of events, please visit www.Mobilize.org/Target2020FL or contact Mobilize.org Program Manager, Amber Cruz, at Amber@Mobilize.org.
About Mobilize.org
Mobilize.org empowers and invests in Millennials to create and implement solutions to social problems. Utilizing technology and social networking to connect Millennials on and offline, Mobilize.org convenes Millennials from around the country to discuss issues impacting the Millennial Generation and to develop sustainable solutions to address them.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visit KnightFoundation.org.
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