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When it comes to education in the US, there is hope in the air - made all the more tangible by the confirmation of Martha Kanter as the US Under Secretary for Education. Just this afternoon HP hosted the Silicon Valley Education Foundation's "bon voyage" luncheon for Dr. Kanter, one of Silicon Valley's own education leaders and innovators. Personally, I'm very excited - and here's why...

This luncheon was the first public appearance by Dr. Kanter following her June 20^th confirmation by the Senate. She spoke for 20 minutes then answered questions. Here's what stood out to me:

Dr. Kanter is passionate about tackling important education issues - It was great to hear Dr. Kanter ("Martha", to those who have known her in Silicon Valley) speak about her deep concern for serving the students who are not currently well-served by the education system as we know it today. "What can we do differently for the students we 'lose'...?"

Dr. Kanter is ready to listen and be transparent - "We [the Federal Government] need to listen to you [educators, business, and philanthropy leaders]... what works and what doesn't"

Dr. Kanter think out-of-the-box and between-the-silos - There is a lot of previous rhetoric about working across silos; Dr. Kanter knows how to do this and gave several exciting examples of what can be done, connecting economic development stakeholders with education stakeholders.

Dr. Kanter is focused on increasing education opportunity (break down the bureaucratic barriers that make it hard for the underserved to get financial aid, for example) and student achievement ("We only have so much time to do this...")

"We will succeed in helping the students who are furthest behind..."

Thank you for the inspiration, Madame Under Secretary! (Can we still call you Martha?)

Jim Vanides, B.S.M.E, M.Ed.
Worldwide Education Programs
HP Global Social Investment
Hewlett-Packard
Twitter @jgvanides

For information about the HP Global Social Investments, visit www.hp.com/hpinfo/grants