Hear “What Makes Cities Successful”

Our colleague Carol Coletta, president/CEO of CEOs for Cities in Chicago, will speak Wednesday about “What Makes Cities Successful – Talent and More” at FedEx Institute of Technology at University of Memphis during an important event sponsored by Leadership Memphis.

As you know if you are just a casual reader of this blog, we are passionate – some say obsessed – about the importance of college attainment to our city’s future.  Sometimes we thought that nobody was listening, and that’s why we are so excited that the Leadership Memphis board of directors has set college attainment as its overriding purpose.  The event will be the kick-off of the new Memphis Talent Initiative.

To top it off, this new priority will be seconded by Mayor A C Wharton, City of Memphis, Dr. Kriner Cash, superintendent, Memphis City Schools, Jim Boyd, president of BRIDGES, Martavius Jones, chair, Memphis City School Board, Bill Troutt, president of Rhodes College and John Moore, president and CEO of the Greater Memphis Chamber, all of whom will endorse this new plan.

All of this will take place Wednesday, December 9, from 5-7 p.m. at the FedEx Institute of Technology.

The event is free and will feature interactive input from the audience.

Leadership Memphis said that it took on this new focus because “Memphis currently ranks 48 of the 51 largest metropolitan areas in percentage of the population with a college degree. With less than one in four Memphians holding a college degree (23.7%), our community is about to embark on an initiative that will increase the number of college graduates by one percentage point, resulting in a talent dividend in excess of $1 billion.”