Austin Chamber staff visits Denver to Discuss the Importance of Post-Secondary Education

As the year continues, the Austin Chamber joined the Lumina Foundation in Denver to discuss the importance of equity in education. The trip is part of the Austin Chamber’s DTC70 program made possible by Chamber partners and sponsors through the Chamber’s Opportunity Austin initiative. This trip was paid for by the Lumina Foundation.

As the U.S. economy continues to grow, the need for education equality is crucial. According to the Lumina Foundation, since 2011 only 90,000 jobs were created for people with a high school diploma or less. Austin Chamber staff, Kwee Lan Teo and Gilbert Zavala, discussed gaps for underrepresented groups and the importance of post-secondary education. The conference also featured speeches from Dr. Anthony Carnevale from Georgetown University and Dr. Greg Cumpton of the Ray Marshall Center.

In 2017, the Lumina Foundation recognized Austin as one of 17 communities across the country as a designated National Talent Hub. As part of this initiative, the city was awarded a $350,000 grant to help low-income students and underrepresented groups, with some college and no degree, continue enrollment and avoid further gaps in completing their education. The effort is in partnership with Austin Community College and Western Governors University.

The Chamber’s DTC70 program is made possible by Chamber partners and sponsors through the Chamber’s Opportunity Austin initiative. The Chamber has invested nearly $15 million–about a third of its overall budget–on increasing education and talent efforts to help improve educational and economic opportunities for students over the last decade.

For more information regarding the Chamber’s DTC70 program, click here.