Residents of Tampa Bay want to be proud of their schools and recognize that a sense of community is tied to lifelong learning.

The Tampa Bay Partnership Regional Research & Education Foundation recognizes education as growing concern and a complex issue. While many worthy programs, foundations, and coalitions surround the school systems, the region lacks a long-term vision in seamlessly achieving lifelong learning opportunities for its citizens.

The Foundation recognizes that the quality of a region’s educational system:
 

1) is a critical factor in the site selection process for relocating and expanding companies;

2) is a catalyst for research & commercialization;

3) influences the skills of the region’s workforce and quantity of available knowledge workers; and

4) can contribute to increasing the income of the region’s residents.

The Foundation is proud to have the support of the Verizon Foundation and the Helios Education Foundation to launch this initiative.  The Foundation's first activity was hosting Tampa Bay's Talent Dividend Summit:

The Talent Dividend (November 4, 2009):   CEOs for Cities, a national cross-sector network of urban leaders from the civic, business, academic and philanthropic sectors dedicated to building and sustaining the next generation of great American cities, suggests that “Increasing the four-year college attainment rate in each of the nation’s largest metropolitan areas by one percentage point would be associated with $124 billion increase in aggregate annual personal income.”  In the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area, increasing college attainment by one percentage point will produce an annual Talent Dividend of $2.1 billion.  Monetizing these achievements serves as a powerful motivator for urban leaders to act urgently to achieve results.  Learn more...