A message from the Executive Director

The Education Foundation was founded by the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce to enhance the region’s economy by strengthening public education.  Since our inception we have served as an intermediary organization to bring together the best talent and resources of business and education for the betterment of both. We believe that all students should graduate equipped with the knowledge and skills needed in our current and emerging workforce and that school-business partnerships are essential to achieving that goal.

International rankings indicate that the United States is losing its prominence in basic reading and math skills as well as science proficiency.  This is a situation we must address with urgency. With low skill jobs moving overseas, employers of our future workforce will take as a given the mastery of basic skills and they will demand higher order thinking skills, the ability to work in teams and make rapid adaptations to change.  If our region is to be competitive in an increasingly global talent pool, we must provide our students with challenging courses and rigorous standards and accept nothing less than excellence.

The initiatives, programs and partnerships set forth in this website show what can be achieved when businesses and schools combine forces to ensure a world-class education for our region’s young people. Our goal is to see school and business collaboration as the norm, whereby students interact with and experience the business world on a regular basis. We envision preparation for the world of work that is carefully sequenced and developmental with core academic concepts interwoven with career knowledge and skills.

We welcome your engagement in this worthwhile enterprise. Whether you are interested in sustained partnership with a career academy, hosting students and educators at your place of work, becoming Principal for a Day, joining one of our advisory teams or attending the Business Education Summit, we are happy to talk. Move through this website and let us know what interests you or what questions you have – we are always looking for new colleagues.

Lasting reform is not easy and we want your ideas, questions and challenges as we seek to do our part to create a bright future for our region’s youth.  Thank you for your interest in education.

Allen J. Wutzdorff
Executive Director