College, Career and Empowerment Summit
Purpose
The purpose of the College, Career, and Empowerment Summit is to assist participants with developing a guided pathway to success. A guided pathway is a clear and coherent strategy that incorporates career mindedness into the academic process—leading to a Career GPA (Goal, Plan, and Alternatives). The GPA will become an influencer at students’ entry points to middle and high school—subsequently guiding them each step of their journey…keeping them on track to postsecondary completion and economic stability (Completion by Design, 2017; Davis, 2017). As an academic bonus, participants will be able to create their Career GPA and Plan.
The Summit is a one-day event focused on concepts of college, career, and empowerment as a means of encouraging participants to set goals, initiate steps to achieving their goals, identifying intrinsic and extrinsic barriers, and becoming empowered to move past obstacles to achievement/success. Focusing on Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM), the summit will include opportunities for career and personal assessments, interacting with corporate and higher education professionals, experiencing through exhibits, insight into jobs in demand and future/non-traditional careers of the future.
The overarching goal is to support Houston’s secondary and postsecondary schools as well as the city’s effort to close the academic achievement gap that adversely affects the city’s economic base. This initiative, as well as other ICLD programs, are anchored by at least one of the following Six (6) Essential Pillars of Excellence:
SIX ESSENTIAL PILLARS OF EXCELLENCE
I.
Re-Integration into Personal Mastery and Empowerment
Purpose: To increase knowledge and awareness of individual beliefs, environmental influences, attitudes, and behavioral impacts. To also assist participants with personal branding, self-esteem, conflict resolution, making good choices, as well as taking responsibility for their actions, attitudes, and future.
Outcome: Participants will discover personal characteristics, barriers, and differences that may impede success in careers and relationships. Participants will be able to identify positive characteristics and strengths that will sustain positive outcomes and achievement.
II.
Re-Integration into Career and Leadership Development
Purpose: To assist participants with making career decisions that also includes setting attainable short, intermediate and long-term career goals combined with strategies for successful transitioning. Characteristics of leadership will be introduced as elements of empowerment and team building.
Outcomes: Participants will be able to identify career interests, possibilities, and develop a career plan that includes increased awareness of transitional strategies and competences. Participants will be able to identify and respect both internal and external levels of leadership; adopt leadership skills that sustain their choices and needs; learn to value leadership qualities and roles as they relate to careers, team building and interpersonal relationships.
III.
Re-Integration into Enterprise and Financial Stewardship
Purpose: To influence free enterprise values and financial management. To provide ideas and information needed to incorporate concepts of STEAM and social media in these areas.
Outcomes: Participants will learn principles of money manage and the various systems of banking and investing; identify business ideas to fuel the free enterprise system; receive information on what constitutes a democracy and free enterprise system; create ideas in which they can contribute to sustaining this system.
IV.
Re-Integration into Health, Personal Branding and Well-Being through Edu-tainment
Purpose: Fusing the concept of STEAM to educate participants on looking well and living well
Outcomes: Participants will be equipped with knowledge and expectations of what it takes to create a positive brand through health, wellness, and positive image through visual and interaction.
V.
Re-Integration into Community & Civic Engagement
Purpose: To becoming civically engaged to sustain the community and democratic ideals. To encourage team building, provide inclusiveness, increase diversity in thinking, continuous improvement and growth.
Outcome: Participants will be able identify one community and one school problem to develop and implement a solution as a team.
VI.
Advocacy Mentoring
Purpose: To provide extended services to at-risk students attending the 2018 CCES.
Outcome: Participants will have access to mentors, additional support and resources. These are identified as students who are in need of long-term assistance with overcoming academic barriers and building esteem.
Testimonial
'The key ingredient of the Summit was successful in that it exposed individuals to careers that need workers and inspired the individuals to go outside the box into fields that are seldom thought about or discussed."
Ron Green, Houston City Comptroller