Breakthrough 2019 – Businesses Investing In Student Readiness
We know that a traditional four-year college pathway isn’t the right choice for many students in Georgia. The harder part is figuring out which alternative pathway is the best. Breaking ground in these areas are forward-thinking employers like Southwire, America’s...
From prisoner to influencer: Tony’s story
The day that Tony Kitchens was released from prison in 1985, he did an unusual thing: He got down on the ground and created a fake “snow angel” on the grass. “I was elated, but nervous. Free, but I didn’t know anything. The sun was very bright. Red was very red, green...
Breakthrough 2019 – Outcome-Focused Programs & Measuring Success
What works and what doesn’t? That’s a basic but important question for community nonprofits to address. But more times than not, we tend to launch off hunches. We think we know what works, but we don’t know, with quantifiable data points to back it up. At Breakthrough...
Medicaid Waiver An Opportunity To Help Income Inequality
Dr. Alexander Ruder of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta testified on this “benefits cliff” during recent state budget hearings. Speaking on workforce development, he noted that we are having difficulty moving entry-level employees up a career ladder because many...
Breakthrough 2019 – What Makes Communities Thrive?
American civil society is broken. So many Americans live fragmented lives, disconnected from the institutions and associations that once characterized American life and brought people of all economic classes together—everything from churches and synagogues to rotary...
Breakthrough 2019 – Creating Conditions For Change
“The secret is in the soil.” That’s how Georgia Center for Opportunity President and CEO Randy Hicks opened Breakthrough 2019. Randy shared the story of how Moses Coleman discovered Vidalia onions purely by accident in 1931. These onions can only be grown in a...
Breakthrough 2019’s Education Panel – Building Student Networks
The first step in the Success Sequence is to get a good education. On Wednesday, September 11, attendees at Breakthrough 2019 heard from an outstanding panel describing how schooling is key to expanding opportunities for the impoverished in Atlanta and across Georgia....
Georgia considers restoring voting rights for ex-offenders
Georgia might be the next state to restore voting rights to past criminal offenders. The state’s Senate Study Committee on Revising Voting Rights for Nonviolent Felony Offenders held its first meeting Friday to discuss if it will take the step in criminal justice...
Georgia AG files legal brief protecting school choice
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr fears that if a Montana court’s restriction on school choice programs is not reversed, it will open the door for other state courts to enact similar laws. The Montana Supreme Court’s decision excludes religious schools from the...
Recapping an amazing Breakthrough 2019!
On Wednesday, September 11, nearly 200 community leaders, nonprofit practitioners, business people, and concerned citizens gathered at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in downtown Atlanta for one unifying purpose: To find solutions that restore dignity and hope to the most...
