Convening thought leaders across the region

The Greater Philadelphia region has one of the most highly concentrated college and university populations in the country. There are almost 100 higher education institutions located throughout the 11 counties, with 440,000 students that attain approximately 90,000 degrees annually, making Greater Philadelphia a hub for highly intelligent and innovative thinkers.

Here at the Chamber, we believe that access to education across the continuum will assure that the Greater Philadelphia region benefits from an educated and skilled workforce to fuel our growth.

For over a decade, the Chamber has convened the Regional College and University Presidents’ Alliance (Presidents’ Alliance) which was created to explore cooperative opportunities among the region’s many degree-granting institutions. The Presidents’ Alliance is comprised of higher education leaders who commit their time and efforts to enhancing the talent in Greater Philadelphia. Working with the CEO Council for Growth (CEO Council), an initiative of the Chamber, the Presidents’ Alliance leverages relationships with the business and civic communities which provides opportunities for collaboration, collective advocacy on issues critical to higher education, and the cultivation of new relationships between business and higher education leaders.

The collaborative efforts of the Presidents’ Alliance, the Chamber and the CEO Council provide opportunities for higher education and business leaders to leverage combined strengths and to act with a coordinated regional voice. Throughout the year, these leaders organize periodically for shared learning sessions which are intended to identify challenges and discuss solutions is key to enhancing communication between those who are leading our region’s future workforce.

On December 11th the Chamber is hosting our fall Presidents’ Alliance meeting which will be followed by a Higher Education reception from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at WHYY, 150 N. 6th Street, Philadelphia, PA. This annual gathering is hosted by the Presidents’ Alliance and serves as an exclusive networking opportunity for business and academic executives to meet each other and discover ways to strengthen our regional economy by leveraging our academic assets.

The two main focus areas of the meeting will be partnerships between higher education and the business community and best practices for supporting and educating the region’s college students. The idea for this gathering is to allow college presidents to identify issues that are important to the business and higher education communities and discuss how each of these issues are being addressed on campuses and at workplaces across the region. It also provides a unique occasion for these leaders to collaborate with each other in order to enhance interaction and communication.

If you are interested in becoming involved in the region’s conversation on education, email me at rwonderling@chamberphl.com.