S04E04 - Rural Innovation Series | Lauren Marie Hall Riggens, Senior Manager, Empower Schools

Build Momentum - Thought Leadership for Education, Global Workforce Edition

In this episode of Build Momentum, we are joined by Lauren Marie Hall Riggins, a senior manager at Empower Schools, a national nonprofit that partners with communities and educators to reimagine local education systems. Lauren is currently the Director of Youth Poet Laureate at VOICES Corporation, an organization offering culturally sustaining programs for young people, where she also serves as a board member and consultant. She is an experienced educator, researcher, and nonprofit leader with many notable achievements.
This is the second episode in a four-part series focusing on rural collaboratives that are developing opportunities for students in specialized career pathways.
Some Questions I Ask:

• Can you tell us more about Empower Schools? (01:34)
• What workforce issues are being addressed in the traditional CTE space? (04:04)
• What opportunities have you developed with higher education partners, and what challenges have you encountered? (07:05)
• How do you address funding in K-12 education collaboratives? (10:54)
• What credentials are you looking to offer in these collaborations, and how do they enhance students’ futures? (14:19)
• How do the collaborations address student transportation? (19:21)
• What are your goals in rural collaboratives, and do you have to be rural to be part of them? (25:08)
• What other places across the country have built impressive collaborations to support students? (28:43)
• How do you share your powerful story of success? (31:33)

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

• All about Empower Schools (01:46)
• Workforce issues traditional CTE addresses (04:19)
• Opportunities and challenges with higher education partners (07:35)
• Strategies for funding K-12 collaboratives (11:09)
• Pros and cons of credentials (15:41)
• Creative approaches to student transportation (19:34)
• Aspirational goals for education collaboratives anywhere (25:29)
• Which other states have built impressive collaborations (29:02)
• How Lauren shares her organization’s success (31:49)

Quotes:

“I joke with my friends in the education innovation scene—excuse my language if we can't use this term—but someone needs to make transportation sexy. Why is no one innovating transportation?.”
“We've created a situation where we have thousands and thousands of students across the country who have insane amounts of post-secondary debt and no real career prospects. … Post-secondary is important, but let's marry it with very intentional academic supports and a clear path that kids have explored and feel good about—and that leads to a family-sustaining wage.”
“Rural collaboratives are a really unique way of maintaining community identity and collective efficacy, the sense that a group of people feel like they can do something well together, take care of their kids, [and] create a really strong regional economy.”

Stay in touch with Lauren:
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