A Message from Mark Kiester:

The Boys and Girls Club of the Austin Area and Forefront Austin have partnered this month to discuss how private enterprise drives social change in our community.

Read on to see the unique ways collaboration across different market segments brings the innovation Austin needs to raise the academic bar for our children's education.

From the Editors desk:
Enacting sustainable social change in Austin requires more than gifts and feel-good deeds from charities, individuals or events. Amidst unprecedented economic turmoil, with nearly half of Central Texas living in or near poverty, and about 87 percent of low-income Central Texas students identified as at-risk of dropping out of public school, it's apparent that no single group or sector can handle the weight of this burden alone.

Forefront Austin's perspectives this month show us the power of innovative partnerships among philanthropists, nonprofits, businesses, policy makers and community members to identify and apply unique solutions that will move the needle for the entire community.