As a community, we are often confronted with issues that seem beyond our influence to impact. Of late, poverty, and the systemic challenges that enable it to proliferate in our community, has captured our collective conscious. We’ve seen the data showing that half of Syracuse’s children live in poverty. We’ve read the stories highlighting the […]
As a community, we are often confronted with issues that seem beyond our influence to impact. Of late, poverty, and the systemic challenges that enable it to proliferate in our community, has captured our collective conscious.
We’ve seen the data showing that half of Syracuse’s children live in poverty. We’ve read the stories highlighting the cycle of despair and absence of opportunity. We know that unless we can influence the external factors that limit a student’s ability to go to college, we are impeding our region’s ability to redefine its competitive position in the next economy.
That is why the announcement of New York State’s $20 million investment to support CNY Rising’s Syracuse College Promise Collaborative is so critical. It represents our first major down-payment in a long-term commitment to advancing educational opportunities and building a stronger human-capital pipeline that will drive future success in our region.
This investment is a major milestone for a program that this community has supported for more than eight years. We are proud of our many CEO members and private businesses, including a significant contribution from SRC, who have provided financial backing to this program. Local nonprofits, such as the CNY Community Foundation and On Point for College, have fundraised and deployed innovative new programs to support these efforts. And our elected leaders — Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo — have recognized our region’s desire to confront the challenges brought on by some of the most intensive poverty in the country.
The Syracuse College Promise endowment, which is aligned with the Say Yes to Education program, enables CNY Rising’s goals of bringing greater economic inclusion and access to jobs to all members of our community. This investment also means that the Say Yes to Education endowment is now the first fully funded Say Yes scholarship program in the country.
Through this program, our community has demonstrated its ability to address a critical challenge by pulling in the same direction toward a solution. We face no shortage of opportunities on the horizon that need a similar unified vision and commitment to achieve a better future for the region. We commend everyone who made this effort a reality, and look forward to the community’s continued engagement.
Robert M. (Rob) Simpson is president and CEO of CenterState CEO, the primary economic-development organization for Central New York. This editorial is drawn and edited from the “CEO Focus” email newsletter that the organization sent to members on March 24.
