About CAOOur mission is to move people living in fragile communities from promise to prosperity. We accomplish this by listening to their aspirations, fears, and recommendations; supporting researchers who are best-positioned to explore communities’ most pressing issues; and, using their findings to inform public, private, and community-based solutions.CAO believes the best way to advance opportunity is by listening to people in search of it and then equipping them with the intellectual and financial capital to create solutions. Opportunity should be available to everyone. We serve as a stakeholder in this important human endeavor.Center for Advancing OpportunityC4OA_e86aca50-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde7Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the Center for Advancing Opportunity is a research and education initiative created by a partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the Charles Koch Foundation, and Koch Industries. CAO supports faculty and students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other postsecondary institutions to develop research-based solutions to the most challenging issues in education, criminal justice, and entrepreneurship.Johnny C. Taylor, Jr.In 2015, TMCF's former President & CEO, Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., heard Mr. Charles Koch giving an interview on television about eliminating barriers to opportunity and he sent him a letter about partnering with TMCF.Thurgood Marshall College FundFormed in 1987 and named for the U.S. Supreme Court's first African American Justice, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund (TMCF) represents all Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and its member-schools. Charles KochCharles Koch FoundationForty-eight hours after receiving the letter, the Charles Koch Foundation contacted Johnny to set up a meeting. Since then, this relationship has bloomed into the founding of CAO... The Charles Koch Foundation has been working to help people improve their lives by advancing an understanding of the benefits of free societies since its founding in 1980.Koch IndustriesKoch Industries owns a diverse group of companies integral to creating life's basic necessities: food, shelter, clothing and transportation.People Living in Fragile CommunitiesOur constituency is people living in fragile communities and they are members of all races, ethnicities, and religions.CAO CentersCAO is making major investments in Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) to establish research centers and produce new research on the barriers to opportunity in fragile communities.Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM)Winston Salem State University -- In September 2017, the Center for Advancing Opportunity (CAO) awarded Winston-Salem State University (WSSU) a $3 million grant to launch the Center for the Study of Economic Mobility (CSEM). The new center will study the barriers to economic mobility in East Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. Why? Children from low-income families in Forsyth County are less likely to move up the income ladder as adults compared to kids almost anywhere else in the United States. CSEM will serve as a hub for faculty research, undergraduate student scholarships, and community outreach as they explore this issue. "It is crucial to understand just what is holding broad-based development and upward mobility back and how that might be changed at the local level," said WSSU Economics Professor Craig Richardson, CSEM's founding director. "The goal is basically to better understand how to remove barriers to economic and social development across the board." CSEM Faculty: * Craig Richardson, Founding director * Alvin Atkinson, Associate DirectorThe Center for Justice ResearchTexas Southern University -- The Center for Justice Research (CJR) is a new initiative designed to produce innovative solutions to criminal justice reform and address challenges in America's criminal justice system. CJR's mission is to change the paradigm of how Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) address criminal justice reform by developing objective, evidence-based research. The goal is to develop and disseminate interdisciplinary criminal justice research to dismantle barriers faced by American citizens in fragile communities. The Center will be an incubator for policy-driven criminal justice research support, increase the research capacity of HBCU faculty in the field, and train and mentor graduate students interested in addressing issues surrounding mass incarceration. CJR Faculty: Dr. Howard Henderson, Center DirectorCAO StaffGerard RobinsonGerard Robinson is the executive director of the Center for Advancing Opportunity (CAO).Jennifer H. WiderJennifer H. Wider is the deputy director of the Center for Advancing Opportunity (CAO).Candace M. KentCandace M. Kent is the program manager at the Center for Advancing Opportunity (CAO).Lamont RucksLamont Rucks is the senior events coordinator for the Center for Advancing Opportunity (CAO).Lal BenitahLal Benitah is the executive assistant to the executive director of the Center for Advancing Opportunity (CAO).Opportunity ... available to everyone._e86acbfe-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde7To move people living in fragile communities from promise to prosperity._e86accbc-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde7OpportunityResearchInvest in HBCU faculty to study education, criminal justice, and entrepreneurship and their work to create pathways to better outcomes._e86acd70-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde71_e86ace2e-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde7ScholarshipsEncourage HBCU undergraduate students to pursue careers in education, criminal justice, or entrepreneurship, and graduate students to produce research related to these fields._e86acee2-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde72_e86acf8c-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde7Campus ConversationsHost speaker series to facilitate conversations between the HBCU community and scholars, elected officials, public and private sectors leaders, and international dignitaries._e86ad040-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde73_e86ad0f4-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde7PollingCollect data through Gallup's TMCF/Koch Opportunity Survey to inform decisions at the national, state, and local levels._e86ad1a8-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde74_e86ad266-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde7SummitConvene HBCU faculty and national thought leaders to examine the latest academic research and best practices._e86ad324-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde75The State of Opportunity in America Summit_e86ad3ec-191b-11e8-85c7-ce6cc0e6fde72018-02-23https://www.advancingopportunity.org/our-storyOwenAmburOwen.Ambur@verizon.net