At the Friday, Jan. 13 Good Morning Greater Spokane breakfast: Education Grows Economies, Greater Spokane Incorporated launched a new community initiative aimed at providing working adults support to return to school, finish their degree and open doors of opportunity.
By 2020, 65 percent of all jobs in the United States will require a high-quality certificate or college degree. The Greater Minds initiative joins other community programs, with a specific goal to raise the proportion of residents in Spokane County with high-quality certificates or two- or four-year degrees from 40 percent to 60 percent by 2025.
Greater Minds is a collaboration between higher education institutions and business organizations throughout our region. It’s a known fact that adults who complete their degree or certificate earn a greater salary, advance in their careers, and find more stable employment. Ultimately, an educated workforce helps create a healthy economy and thriving community. Learn more with our Greater Minds Business Toolkit.
We invite your business to participate in the Greater Minds program. Our Greater Minds Navigator, Jodi Strote, will work with your business and HR department to help explore education programs that fit your employees’ education goals and connect working adults to education opportunities. Jodi will match goals with educational programs throughout the region to find the support students need when returning to school.
In addition, Greater Minds can help potential students search for possible scholarships, grants, loans, and other financial aid to help when returning to school.
Special thanks to the team that was instrumental in getting this initiative launched, and for making Greater Minds a reality. Our Education Attainment Advisory Group includes: Community Colleges of Spokane, Eastern Washington University, Excelerate Success/United Way, Leadership Spokane, League of Education Voters, Numerica Credit Union, PAML, Pearson Packaging, Spokane Area Workforce Development Council, Spokane Public Schools, Spokane Regional Health District, STCU, Umpqua Bank, and Whitworth University.
A special thank you goes out to our Initiative Investors: Community Colleges of Spokane, Eastern Washington University, Numerica Credit Union, Spokane County, STCU, and Whitworth University. Without your investment, this initiative would not be possible.
We invite you to partner with us as we increase education attainment rates in Spokane. Visit GreaterMindsSpokane.org to get started!
