Achieve Quad Cities Leadership Cabinet (AQC)

Blog post by Matt Mendenhall, Vice President of Programs

Who would you want around a strategy table to improve education in the Quad Cities? School district superintendents? Check! Business leaders? Check! College and university presidents? Check! Local funders? Check!

The Achieve Quad Cities Leadership Cabinet (AQC) meets regularly to improve our region’s educational outcomes. While local school districts provide the heart of students’ formal education, educational outcomes also depend on broader learning experiences found in the community. The Cabinet is helping to strengthen a Quad Cities network of effective, community-based supports that help students succeed. We hope that the Quad Cities’ capacity to act as a regional community will help us to compete for national education grants, promote a consistent message about the value of education, and identify the services that make the biggest differences for our students. Thanks to the Cabinet members who are serving our community in this way!

The Quad Cities Community Foundation provides both funding and leadership to AQC efforts. A Community Foundation Board decision in 2008 to support the community’s efforts to improve high school graduation rates for the region has evolved into multiple stakeholder teams that work to expand access to high quality career experiences, strengthen parenting supports, expand middle school mentoring, measure regional education indicators, align strategies to increase higher education completion, and support for other projects that promote educational success. After 5 years of observing this community’s commitment to education, the Community Foundation Board has decided to continue to support the work of AQC.

If you have an interest in learning more or supporting this work to improve our region’s educational outcomes, please call the Community Foundation at 563-326-28