Educational Foundation

The CACI Educational Foundation is CACI's research and educational affiliate. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization whose mission is to:

• Nurture an entrepreneurial spirit in the citizens of the State of Colorado.
• Engage the citizens of the State of Colorado in a public-policy discussion that promotes their understanding of the importance of the free-enterprise system to preservation of a healthy economy and high quality of life.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Educational Foundation is Ray Johnson, Corporate Community Relations Manager and Public Affairs Manager, IBM, who is also a member of the CACI Board of Directors.

Board members are Kevin Hougen, President, Aurora Chamber of Commerce; Lucille Mantelli, Director, Communications & Public Affairs, Carestream Health, Inc.; Carl Miller, government relations consultant; and Denise Reeves, CACI Vice President for Events and Programs.

The President of the CACI Educational Foundation and a member also of its Board of Directors is Chuck Berry, CACI President. The Executive Director of the CACI Educational Foundation is Dan Pilcher, CACI Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

The Educational Foundation seeks funding from CACI members and philanthropic foundations to carry out projects that help it achieve its mission. Below are current projects and past projects.

Current Projects

Business Health Forum Project

The Business Health Forum project was launched in the spring of 2007 to get companies, which are the major payers of health care, more involved in Colorado's health-care reform debate. The Forum is funded by The Colorado Health Foundation. With the Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform hard at work, and Governor Bill Ritter and state legislators looking in 2008 for comprehensive reform of the system, employers cannot sit on the sidelines. Although the Forum will not take positions on reform proposals or legislation during the 2008 session, it serves as a conduit to increase business leaders' participation in the reform debate, as well as their understanding of such related issues as Medicaid, the problem of the uninsured and issues about health-care quality.

Employers can go online at the Project's Web-site to indicate how they'd like to be involved. The site provides information about the Forum and for news about the health-care reform debate. The Forum also sponsors informational meetings statewide in partnership with local chambers of commerce and other business groups.

Contact:
Ralph Pollock, Forum Director
Amy Fletcher, Associate Director
(303) 866.9659
http://www.bizhealthforum.org/

Colorado Business Education Alliance (CBEA)

Since 2005, the Colorado Business Education Alliance (CBEA) has been an on-line resource bank and clearinghouse providing business leaders with information, support, and networking opportunities to establish and sustain K-12 partnerships with local public schools. CBEA assists high-need schools in both urban and rural locations. CBEA also publicizes existing business-education partnerships to the statewide business community. CBEA has been funded by IBM, but also is seeking support from other CACI members and philanthropic foundations.

Contact:
Deborah Kerns-Lynch, consultant
(303) 660-4913
DKernsLynch@aol.com

Past Projects

CACI Millennium Blueprint Project (1999-2000), $184,700. Successive CACI Blueprints since 1986-87 have been CACI's long-term strategy for building and improving a public-private partnership in Colorado to stimulate and sustain economic growth and prosperity. The goals of the project included:

• Strengthening CACI's role a public-policy leader;
• Becoming Colorado's long-term state competitiveness strategy for next five years;
• Filtering legislative proposals;
• Guiding CACI policy Councils;
• Influencing the Governor and legislators;
• Attracting and retaining members;
• Building a state-wide consensus on issues and strategies for the Blueprint;
• Issuing the Blueprint, and
• Monitoring and measuring progress on addressing the Blueprint's issues

Feasibility Study of a Manufacturing Skills Assessment Instrument for Clients of Colorado Workforce Development Centers Project (2002), $38,528. Funded by a grant from the Colorado Office of Workforce Development.

Workforce Innovations Network (WIN) Project (1998-1999), $200,000. Part of national project supported by National Association of Manufacturers, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Jobs for the Future. The project sought to demonstrate how an employer organization, such as CACI, could play an intermediary role to (a) help improve the job prospects of disadvantage job seekers and workers and (b) meet the needs of companies that are hiring entry-level workers.

Manufacturing Industries Career Alliance (MICA) Project (2000-2001) $25,000, which was funded by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). The Project sought to connect companies to local educational institutions to generate future workers. The Project published reports that concerned increasing the skill sets of workers in manufacturing and linking those skills to the curriculum of educational and training organizations.

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