On Thursday, January 20, 2011 over 100 community leaders came together at CHILDREN AT RISK’s Corporate Breakfast/Children’s Summit. This event seeks to heighten awareness among members of the corporate and non-profit community on the most pressing issues facing Texas’ children and ultimately, Texas’ future. The event was held at the beautiful Gulf States Toyota Headquarters for the second consecutive year. The venue and breakfast was generoulsy provided by CHILDREN AT RISK’s very own Board Member Toby Hynes, President of Gulf States Toyota.
Craig Cordola, CHILDREN AT RISK Board Member and CEO of Memorial Hermann Hospital Texas Medical Center, gave the opening remarks followed by an update on the Status of Houston’s Children given by Dr. Bob Sanborn and Mandi Kimball. Dr. Bob and Mandi highlighted CHILDREN AT RISK’s legislative priorities for the 82nd legislative session including implementing Universal Free School Breakfast Programs in schools that have 80% student populations living at or below 185% of the Ferderal Poverty Line and passing a resolution in support of extended learning time and its academic benefits, among others. The event’s keynote speaker Dr. Stephen Klineberg, Professor of Sociology and Co-Director, Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University gave his presentation titled the Changing Face of Houston: Tracking the Demographic Transformations Through 29 Years of Houston Surveys.
The breakfast also included a dynamic panel discussion which covered an array of topics including: juvenile mental health, human trafficking, early education, public health and hunger issues. We would like to thank our panelists: Dr. Olivia McGill, Harris County Juvenile Mental Health Court, Karen Love, MHA, Executive Director, Harris County Healthcare Alliance, Sherri Zack, Assistant U.S. Attorney, United States Attorney’s Office Southern District of Texas, Katherine von Haefen, Community Impact, United Way of Greater Houston, and Dr. Pamela Berger, Public Policy Coordinator, Houston Food Bank. We would also like to thank our corporate sponsors: Gulfstates Toyota, Shell, El Paso Corporation, American Life General Life Companies and the Keating Family Foundation for helping to make this breakfast a success.
Please contact (713) 869-7740 or info@childrenatrisk.org for presentation information.