Of working with almost all of you in this room. After school is such a special place. And make such a difference in the lives of the kids, the families, and the communities we serve. It is a huge ripple effect. The reason we have been able to save this program and expand the program is because of all of you. It is from the tremendous leadership and voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger down to some of the people not represented in this room, our staff working the lines every day. Creating dreams. Letting kids dream though streams. I wanted to thank you all. Letting kids dream those dreams. I wanted to thank you all. [applause] this panel, we have such an amazing array of talent. We really want to focus on preparing our kids for the workforce. And tying back to that creativity and entrepreneurial drive, how do we get our kids to see themselves with the jobs of the future . The jobs that we need here in america. It will be how we do make america great. There has been a lot of attention on the military. Homeland security. Growing our defense. To have a strong military, we need strong people in that military. I am really, really happy to have admiral brecher. Not only does military provide training for kids, but a great rear path. Career path. What are some of the recruiting problems the military is facing . What role can afterschool play . As we look at afterSchool Programs, if we run into people that dont believe making an investment in use is the right thing to do, let me offer you a slightly different lens. Ages 1725, 70 dont qualify to join the military. 71 . Bucketsinto three large , which is obesity, not completing high school, or having a criminal record. From the earlier panelist and Research Many of you have access to the afterSchool Programs go to the very root causes that create those areas. That is just meeting the minimums. In addition to that, as we talked about the changes that exist in the workforce is today, it is an increasingly complex world that the military needs to operate in. We also need youth coming in with higher and skills to go into technology ante complex workplace. After School Programs offer that opportunity for access. As so many have described, it is really the ability to dream. It is the ability to have access and see themselves in that workplace as a possibility and then a path to the possibility. If we dont make the investment, we are already experiencing the goal to use in recruiting for the military. Think of all of the other segments of the workforce that are affected. First responders, Law Enforcement, our trades. It is a very wide reaching impact that it just so happens the military has some data we can apply. This goes far beyond the military. It is really the future of the nation and is a National Security imperative. Thank you. [applause] clapp, please. As we think about other istors, obviously hightech one of the most exciting and challenging areas of new jobs in america. It is one of the places where our country is really excelling. I am so thrilled to have you here, michael. You, what dosk afterSchool Programs due to encourage students to learn about and prepare for the jobs in the hightech world . Michael it is an honor to be on such a distinguished panel. It is important. When you look at our industry, Internet Companies, these are very hightech jobs in all 50 states. We have a short following in the United States of kids graduating with the education in the stem fields particularly for computer coding and engineering and so many different jobs. I believe next are the shortfall will be almost 250,000 people short of u. S. Based students graduating with the skills they need to work for Internet Companies and hightech companies. Those jobs have to come from somewhere. By getting kids involved early, particularly middle school to show them a path forward. They are not the jobs of the present, but of the future. We have had the opportunity to work with afterschool allstars and bring some kids around to visit some of the Companies Like twitter and facebook and google and amazon and others. When you see these middle school kids walk around our companies and talk to the engineers and see and learn how they got there , they get to see a path forward and they say, wait, if i studied math, science, and i stay in school and i go to high school and college i could work at a work a great place like this and have a high paying job and have the teacher the future. It set the bar higher. They never would have been thought it was possible to work at one of these innovative companies. We partner for selfish reasons as well. We want these students to grow up in the United States and have a Diverse Workforce we are able to get domestically. We want to instill that an part of it is starting in middle school and part of it as being involved in afterSchool Programs because those three hours afterschool have a huge impact. We want be a part of it. Thank you. [applause] when it comes to afterschool, we all do our homework on research and data matter. It is the stories and the kids that drive us but having the research and data behind it really helps us make the case. Askr roberts, i wanted to about charlottes task force and the report on economic mobility. Mayor roberts that is why i have a copy of it. Right here. Important to have show and tell. A coming together of our city, county, Business Leaders, nonprofit leaders, around the opportunity gap that exists in charlotte and many major cities. We were actually spurred by a report that came out that was done by harvard and berkeley that looked at generational poverty and the ability of folks born in poverty to move out of that poverty within a generation. Charlotte ranked the lowest of the 50 major metropolitan areas. We dont like being last in anything. What did that did was bring us the political will. The governor talked about bringing republicans and democrats together, we focused the entire community on changing that statistic. They looked at so many things it took two years. Somebody got very impatient with it taking two years. They wanted a blueprint for implementation and a scorecard, a way to actually make sure that things were being and lamented that implemented that were recommended. If you are going to change generational poverty, you have to focus on the young people. The three areas we looked at , collegey childhood and Career Readiness, and Family Structure and support. In all three of those areas after School Programs play a role. Is, is so interesting again, if you are going to change the opportunity gap, we are conscious as a community to look at the systemic barriers that children born in a tough neighborhood, with concentrations of poverty, one parent family, some of the systemic racial barriers that we have in our communities because of the way that we developed and because of racial segregation that was actually written into law in many communities in the country and in charlotte we discovered that. If you look at the wording for the afterschool component, expand access to quality out of school time that integrates academic support with career awareness, exploration, and preparation and connects more low so she atomic so shell economic students with access. You have time to do this in a seven hour school day. You connect that learning to what does it actually look like in a career. We have great things going on in charlotte. We need to help fund them better and coordinate them better. They are things Like Technology is missing. We have Technology Jobs that go unfilled. We try to find workers from other places. We have talent right there in charlotte. We have a group called Hip Hop University that students with technology through hiphop. It is fun. It is creative. All of that video and editing, that is technical. There is a lot that goes on there that kids are really good at learning. That is a way into a possible career. Whether it is media, technology, i. T. , software development. These are the kinds of things that we have to come together as a community to help implement and support. We are working with some of the area is mrs. To support that, to see that technology need. Microsoft has stepped up. We have other software companies, the largest bank in the country, bank of america has been a supporter. We need to continue to focus. What is interesting, as mayor, i actually have no technical responsibility for the schools. We have a school board funded by the state and county. The city focuses on infrastructure. I also get in front of a lot of people. I can be a convener. I know that our workforce is not going to survive or be a grow and thrive without focusing on kids. And on families and that support that after schools provide. That link to creativity, Career Readiness and awareness. I have talked a lot as mayor about how we bring people together to support our schools. The other thing i love about afterSchool Programs, they are very nimble, adaptive, creative, responsive. Muchchools have so curriculum, challenge, and so much policy challenge, but the after School Programs can fill in the gaps thickly. More quickly. We have helped mobilize the private and nonprofit sectors to fill in those gaps. Like the need for technology training, how can we remember and respond to 21st century challenges that will change every year. 20 years ago you didnt have social media managers for companies, now every company has one. Theyre going to be more jobs in robotics and things coming to the floor that we, as adults, cannot even foresee. Be opento help our kids to planning for and give them those critical connections. [applause] back to the get value of partnerships, but first, britney. We had a really wonderful discussion about your Afterschool Program. When we talk about pursuing your dreams, you didnt think you could pursue a career in our growing up. How did your Afterschool Program, gold crown, convinced and help you to follow your dreams . Britney i joined when i was 11 years old. I was a lonely kid in middle school. I didnt know anybody. My brother was in that program. I went after school and i found what i loved. I didnt realize i loved art until i wanted to go to college. I went to Community College and didnt know what i wanted to do. I was like, forensic science. That was not what i was passionate about. It was art. My coordinators help to mean get to that point to where i was like, i can do this. I can be a freelance illustrator no matter how hard and competitive it is. I can do it as long as i believe in myself. I know you talk to me a lot about how it was almost a family, your Afterschool Program. They definitely are. What do you think you would be doing now if you didnt have the fortune to get a gold crown. Britney who knows . I dont even know. Who do want of you to know, stop by later and make sure to see some of the postcards and art. As matt said, it is spectacular. I have been talking to her about hiring her myself when the conference is over. Britney i have stuff. Take it. S mayor mayor, do you see the multiple ways that afterSchool Programs can impact the students, families, and communities. Why are you a champion for these programs . Collect i am a champion because of the multiple ways that afterSchool Programs help and how they ultimately help the community. Fromry, we are different charlotte and other cities, we are literally rebuilding a community that has been hit by financial disasters, as a result of a reduction in industry. When you are rebuilding the a timety, while there is that you focus on adults, the primary focus has to be on the children. It is to provide opportunities for them and to really set a high bar. Typically, for us, our parents set the bar. I can remember in the seventh grade coming home and having my first report card of middle 2 bs. 4 as and i was satisfied that my dad looked at me and said, what about those 2 bs . From then on that was my focus, not to have the bs. Except in physics, where i would be glad with that. That is another conversation. I have an Afterschool Program for you. Mayor i still need it. The point is our children dont always now have those expectations. It is not that our parents dont love them, or they dont want to set those expectations, but there so busy trying to provide food, clothing, shelter. They have their own set of challenges. In the afterSchool Programs we can set expectation. We can provide additional exposure. We can provide opportunities to see things that you dont necessarily see on television. Are children watch an inordinate amount of television today. They watch many of the same things, videos, reality television. There is nothing wrong, governor, with reality tv, in context. They dont always see positive things on reality tv. Those horizons, and tap into, the mayor talked about the Hip Hop University, into their passions. They and girls club are developing a recording studio. We know that everybody has a rap career in their future. Ok, maybe it is not rapping, but it might be producing, it might be serving as a sound engineer. There are so many opportunities. A videographer. We really want to tap into that passion. We also want to raise the bar. Maybe it is not employment, but maybe it is becoming a food entrepreneur to deal with food deserts. We are doing all of those things that are afterSchool Programs in gary. Awesome. [applause] when you talk about this, in my 12 years and working with in the field, it is longer because i started when i was in college. Have reallyhere, we seen an explosion of Stem Learning in afterschool. It has been externally. Extraordinary. Go to this program, they have a thoughtful stem program to get kids excited about science, math, and engineering so their school work becomes alive and they can be ready for these jobs. Mayor and one of our organizations they have a civic organization. We have stem scouting for boys and girls. [applause] stem, i wanted to focus on partnerships. Partnerships are essential to everything we do. About ag we dont talk lot is when you look at 21st Century Community learning centers, a federally funded program for before and afterschool and summer, the average program has six partners working together to bring resources to our kids. All are alwayswe searching for and we really need that is incredibly powerful is the business voice. Michael, what advice do you have for all of us . Had we get more Business Leaders like you and your companies to speak out about the power of afterschool . Michael great question. I am amazed kids are on tv, they need to be on apps and on the computer. I dont know what theyre watching television for, that is terrible. Is the part of it business community. Certainly from Internet Companies, theyre working very hard to increase the diversity in their companies and make sure that we have the workforce we need so these companies can grow here in the unit states and healthy United States and help the economy and great more jobs. The jobs are there, they will be here as the industry grows. Of it, as i was struck by the conversation earlier with governors worsening or governor Arnold Schwarzenegger about giving the latter to students and showing them the path from middle school to high school to college onto a career in whatever they are passionate about, hopefully this some field and working for an internet company. The same thing is true for the corporate side, if they are investing in the schools in their community, many are, and making sure that they are having their engineers volunteer in creating opportunity where kids can come and visit the campuses and visit the companies and see and be and get inspired, that is the path. That is something that our companies are doing increasingly. We would like to see it happen in a broader section of Technology Companies and companies in the economy to invest in the community, start young with middle school kids. The involved with the afterSchool Programs. At the the kids Afterschool Program in gary, indiana, or charlotte, north carolina, might be the founder of the next great company. They might be an engineer at facebook or twitter, or snapchat here in southern california. That is what it is all about. Our companies are doing it, but we would like to see more. Mayor roberts, i will turn to you. You mentioned some of the business partnerships. Who are you working with in charlotte next . we have a number of initiatives underway that are correlating with our Task Force Report. One of the initiatives i started, since i became mayor was called charlotte next. By ourunded entirely Corporate Partners. One of the things i learned in dealing with city budgets is there is never enough. All of your colleagues on a Student City Council are struggling for the same dollars. I got impatient and i said i will single out the private sector and do it. Case you canhe make with employers when they see the pipeline of talent and they recognize there are gaps. Gaps in content, gaps geographically, diversity, social economic status, gender gaps, racial gaps. They really want t