COLUMBUS, Ind. — The Community Education Coalition (CEC) celebrated its 25th anniversary and thanked its partners for their support during a private reception — entitled “25 years of Momentum” — at the Columbus Learning Center Wednesday evening.
Chris Lowery, the Indiana Commissioner for Higher Education, was one of the featured speakers at the event, along various CEC leaders. Jim Schacht, Cummins vice president for community relations and corporate responsibility, was also a keynote speaker.
CEC President and CEO Kathy Oren described the coalition as “a partnership of stakeholders from the public, private and social sector who have a desire to see our community and our region grow and prosper for all people with a focus on education, equity and opportunity.”
“The work has been successful because all of us, every one of you in the room, are working together to embed equity in everything we do, to link students with excellent education opportunities aligned with outstanding career opportunities at local employers leading to a strong economy now and in the future,” she said.
“The CEC began very humbly in 1997 as an experiment housed in the Columbus Area Chamber of Commerce Foundation,” said Oren. “It was a program developed by the business community alongside education partners. We expanded our work together, focused on the broad spectrum of education from early learning through higher education, serving all students — and in particular, students of color and students of all ages who families experience economic challenges.”
For the complete story, see Friday’s Republic.
