National Dissemination Center for
Career and Technical Education
The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1090

For Immediate Release

John Coburn, Deputy Director, Economic Development, The Ford Foundation, 
will present an overview of "The Ford Foundation's Bridges to Opportunity 
Initiative" during a webcast from the National Dissemination Center for 
Career and Technical Education, The Ohio State University, 3:00 p.m. EDT, 
Thursday, October 28th.

Highlights of efforts in Colorado, Kentucky, and Ohio will be presented by 
Mary Crabbe Gershwin, Executive Director of System Advancement, Colorado 
Community College System (CCCS); Keith W. Bird, Chancellor, Kentucky 
Community and Technical College System (KCTCS); and Brett Visger, Vice 
President, KnowledgeWorks Foundation. The webcast will highlight how each 
state is using the Bridges to Opportunity Initiative to create access to 
further education for targeted populations.

You can view the webcast from any computer with Internet access at:
http://www.nccte.org/webcasts/description.asp?wc=123. If you cannot view 
the webcast live, you can view the archived webcast on the National 
Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education Web site at 
www.nccte.org.

The Ford Foundation has initiated the Bridges to Opportunity Initiative to 
address the educational and economic challenges facing disadvantaged 
communities. The Foundation has approved multi-year grants to support 
state-level reform for developing new policy approaches in six states: 
Colorado, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, Ohio, and Washington. Objectives 
initiated by the Foundation are:
         ·       Promote policy innovation that supports the integration of 
the multiple community college missions;
         ·       Identify ways in which state and local policies can 
enhance community colleges' efforts to expand educational and economic 
opportunities for disadvantaged students; and
         ·       Develop models of effective institutional classroom and 
administrative practice for use by policy makers, college administrators, 
and advocacy coalitions.

Prior to joining the Foundation in 1998, John Coburn worked for over 12 
years for a variety of nonprofit organizations, most recently with The 
Reinvestment Fund, a community development financial institution serving 
the greater Philadelphia region. There, he headed up the capacity-building, 
training, and technical assistance affiliate of the Reinvestment Fund and 
served as director of the Fund's Jobs Initiative, a regional job training 
and placement effort targeting low-income communities and focusing on job 
training and placement in the manufacturing and data-intensive sectors of 
the regional economy. He holds bachelor's degrees in government and 
economics from Oberlin College and a master's degree in Business 
Administration from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of 
Business.

Mary Crabbe Gershwin, serves as Executive Director of the Division of 
System Advancement for the Colorado Community Colleges System, where she 
oversees advancement and global initiatives for the 13 colleges of the 
Colorado Community College System. The System serves 110,000 students 
annually in over 450 degree and certificate programs. With more than 20 
years of experience in workforce development and community colleges, 
Gershwin has managed an extensive workforce development policy and 
innovation agenda at CCCS, has consulted with over 20 colleges nationally 
on the issues of economic change and workforce development, and has 
administered over $25 million in grant and contract budgets. Gershwin holds 
a bachelor's degree in Economics and a doctorate in communication studies 
from the University of Denver.

Keith Bird was appointed Chancellor of the Kentucky Community and Technical 
College System in February 1999. He previously served as President of 
Central Carolina Technical College and New Hampshire Regional Community 
Technical College at Claremont and Nashua. He also was Deputy Commissioner 
of the New Hampshire Community Technical College System.

As Chancellor of KCTCS, Bird is responsible for system-wide direction of 
academic, student, and economic development/workforce initiatives. The 
Chancellor's Office oversees System efforts in Distance Learning, Global 
Studies and Grants and Contracts.

Currently, Keith Bird serves as Director of the Ford Foundation's "Bridges 
to Opportunity" project, which is designed to improve access by and success 
of low-income adults by organizing workforce and education systems around 
long-term comprehensive career pathways that integrate academic, workforce 
training and development. Bird received his bachelor's degree from Alma 
College and his master's degree and doctorate from Duke University. In 
1969-1970, he studied as a Fulbright Scholar and Duke University Exchange 
Student at the Free University in Berlin and in 1975, as a fellow of the 
Military History Research Office in Freiburg, funded by the West German 
Government Academic Fellowship Program.

Brett Visger is the Vice President at KnowledgeWorks Foundation for the 
College & Career Access program area. His work focuses on the promotion of 
postsecondary educational access and success. Brett Visger has played a key 
role in developing the Ohio Early College High School Network, Ohio Bridges 
to Opportunity Initiative, and Ohio College Access Network. Visger earned a 
bachelor's degree in history from the University of Connecticut and a 
master's degree in public administration with a concentration in nonprofit 
management from George Mason University.

Viewers of the webcast may ask questions by signing up (no charge) for a 
WebBoard Account at www.nccte.org. The chatroom allows you to submit 
questions during the presentation. Please allow ample time as your account 
must be validated by an email confirmation. Questions can be pre-submitted 
by linking to 
http://www.nccte.org/webcasts/description.asp?wc=123#viewWebcast.

To subscribe or unsubscribe from this e-mail list, please visit this web 
page: http://www.nccte.org/ctemail/subscription.asp or send an e-mail to 
nagy.8 at osu.edu or contact Barbara Reardon below.

The work reported herein was supported under the National Dissemination for 
Career and Technical Education, PR/Award (No.V051A990004) and/or under the 
National Research Center PR/Award (No.V51A990006) as administered by the 
Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U. S. Department of Education. 
However the contents do not necessarily represent the positions or policies 
of the Office of Vocational and Adult Education or the U.S. Department of 
Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. 
The National Dissemination Center for Career and Technical Education and 
the National Research Center for Career and Technical Education are funded 
by the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U. S. Department of Education.

For Additional Information Contact:

Barbara Reardon
The Ohio State University
Director of Communications
Columbus, Ohio 43210-1090
Phone: 614-292-2894
Fax: 614-688-3258
Email: reardon.30 at osu.edu
Web site: www.nccte.org