Bridget Burns

And that there are millions of people walking around who went to college and the only credential they have is a student loan because they failed out because the institution was never designed for them to be successful. And just like the scale of that and the threat that creates for the future economic competitiveness of this country. And it's a big problem, but nobody sits with it.

And that there are millions of people walking around who went to college and the only credential they have is a student loan because they failed out because the institution was never designed for them to be successful. And just like the scale of that and the threat that creates for the future economic competitiveness of this country. And it's a big problem, but nobody sits with it.

It's no one's responsibility to fix that. We all need it to be solved. But when you have college presidents who are hired to run just one institution... And their board holds them accountable to move up and down in the rankings against each other. Imagine what that does. It doesn't make them want to work on the same team and fight for a bigger cause than themselves.

It's no one's responsibility to fix that. We all need it to be solved. But when you have college presidents who are hired to run just one institution... And their board holds them accountable to move up and down in the rankings against each other. Imagine what that does. It doesn't make them want to work on the same team and fight for a bigger cause than themselves.

It makes them want to play defense and hunker down and focus only on their institutions. It was a huge challenge to build that. And then also I needed to raise all the money for it to work. And thankfully, the idea was right. The people were right. And they were responsive and excited. And honestly, it's only the momentum has just accelerated from then. Now we have 17 institutions.

It makes them want to play defense and hunker down and focus only on their institutions. It was a huge challenge to build that. And then also I needed to raise all the money for it to work. And thankfully, the idea was right. The people were right. And they were responsive and excited. And honestly, it's only the momentum has just accelerated from then. Now we have 17 institutions.

And I say that, but I stopped counting back. the number of institutions who were asking to join the alliance at 120. And I stopped counting within six months of announcing the alliance. So it's not a question of we could be massive and have all kinds of institutions, but it was about figuring out who first we needed to actually do the thing to actually accomplish our goals.

And I say that, but I stopped counting back. the number of institutions who were asking to join the alliance at 120. And I stopped counting within six months of announcing the alliance. So it's not a question of we could be massive and have all kinds of institutions, but it was about figuring out who first we needed to actually do the thing to actually accomplish our goals.

of figuring out how to innovate together and scale up what works, hold each other accountable and produce dramatically more graduates, especially from low income backgrounds. But the big challenge I ran into after that was how do you figure out who to let in when you've already built something that's successful? Because then you run into the problem of

of figuring out how to innovate together and scale up what works, hold each other accountable and produce dramatically more graduates, especially from low income backgrounds. But the big challenge I ran into after that was how do you figure out who to let in when you've already built something that's successful? Because then you run into the problem of

People want to be a part of something that's successful. They like the image of it, perhaps. They like the PR and the marketing, and it looks really great. But we need to figure out who else out there is a worker bee? Who else is interested in doing the really hard stuff and not just drawn to the fact that we have been very effective at telling our story and amplifying the importance of this work?

People want to be a part of something that's successful. They like the image of it, perhaps. They like the PR and the marketing, and it looks really great. But we need to figure out who else out there is a worker bee? Who else is interested in doing the really hard stuff and not just drawn to the fact that we have been very effective at telling our story and amplifying the importance of this work?

That's to this day still one of the biggest problems I face is that vetting issue of who else to let in because this could continue to grow, but we have to actually deliver on the outcomes while we're doing it.

That's to this day still one of the biggest problems I face is that vetting issue of who else to let in because this could continue to grow, but we have to actually deliver on the outcomes while we're doing it.

So I think that a lot of the time we just have no intentional strategy about change. We expect change to happen. And then we don't think about the very human experience of, okay, I come into my office every day. I've worked an entire career with the hopes of being able to see a window. I've worked in a cubicle most of my life.

So I think that a lot of the time we just have no intentional strategy about change. We expect change to happen. And then we don't think about the very human experience of, okay, I come into my office every day. I've worked an entire career with the hopes of being able to see a window. I've worked in a cubicle most of my life.

It's a huge deal to finally have an office that I, maybe I don't have a corner office. Maybe I just have a window I can see. And now you're going to come in here and you're telling me that we're going to be moving our department because we need to do a better job.

It's a huge deal to finally have an office that I, maybe I don't have a corner office. Maybe I just have a window I can see. And now you're going to come in here and you're telling me that we're going to be moving our department because we need to do a better job.

We need to combine departments because of a need to do data sharing and also to make sure that we're aligning our systems and process with this other department. What I know.

We need to combine departments because of a need to do data sharing and also to make sure that we're aligning our systems and process with this other department. What I know.