Bridget Burns

And it sure seems like a lot of repeated experiments and tinkering in silos. And so this group decided to band together to see if we could move faster and that going it alone was a waste of time, energy and money. And so this is the culmination of all of my prior background into one experience.

And it sure seems like a lot of repeated experiments and tinkering in silos. And so this group decided to band together to see if we could move faster and that going it alone was a waste of time, energy and money. And so this is the culmination of all of my prior background into one experience.

And I have the privilege of helping the most innovative universities hold themselves accountable by working together and driving rapid innovation, prototyping, scaling to try and solve student problems. And we've been able to, over the course of 10 years, we've been able to produce over 150,000 more graduates than we were

And I have the privilege of helping the most innovative universities hold themselves accountable by working together and driving rapid innovation, prototyping, scaling to try and solve student problems. And we've been able to, over the course of 10 years, we've been able to produce over 150,000 more graduates than we were

on track to at even stretch capacity when we formed and uh 89 more graduates of color 41 more low-income graduates so it's been wildly successful um because of i think the willingness to hold the tension between competition collaboration innovation and how you get universities

on track to at even stretch capacity when we formed and uh 89 more graduates of color 41 more low-income graduates so it's been wildly successful um because of i think the willingness to hold the tension between competition collaboration innovation and how you get universities

to really be serious about the painful process of change and the painful process of redesigning what they do around the students they need to serve.

to really be serious about the painful process of change and the painful process of redesigning what they do around the students they need to serve.

It originally wasn't my idea. It was Michael Crow's. And he had already found the 11 total. So it was him and 10 other presidents. But I will say there was a baseline commitment to a willingness to figure that out together. And I think at the time, these presidents, they were willing to see. And they signed up for the chance to figure out how they would do this together. And I think that...

It originally wasn't my idea. It was Michael Crow's. And he had already found the 11 total. So it was him and 10 other presidents. But I will say there was a baseline commitment to a willingness to figure that out together. And I think at the time, these presidents, they were willing to see. And they signed up for the chance to figure out how they would do this together. And I think that...

They had a shared interest in addressing the scale question, and ultimately they realized that they were all wrestling with the same challenge of needing to improve outcomes for populations that we've historically failed. But when I got involved, it was not moving as quickly as it should, and it was because these people had not really spent time building relationships together.

They had a shared interest in addressing the scale question, and ultimately they realized that they were all wrestling with the same challenge of needing to improve outcomes for populations that we've historically failed. But when I got involved, it was not moving as quickly as it should, and it was because these people had not really spent time building relationships together.

And I was willing to actually fly to each of their campuses and spend time. If there's anything distinctive about me, it's that I'm an incredibly curious person. I find people fascinating. And just from a human interest perspective, but also I find just all of this work is just endlessly interesting to me.

And I was willing to actually fly to each of their campuses and spend time. If there's anything distinctive about me, it's that I'm an incredibly curious person. I find people fascinating. And just from a human interest perspective, but also I find just all of this work is just endlessly interesting to me.

And I find watching leaders figure out like how they lead, how they drive teams, how they advance, how they... These jobs are just so fascinating and difficult. And so... Each of them was like its own case study that I could observe. And what my job was at the time was to get this moving. And the way I did it, though, was because through my

And I find watching leaders figure out like how they lead, how they drive teams, how they advance, how they... These jobs are just so fascinating and difficult. And so... Each of them was like its own case study that I could observe. And what my job was at the time was to get this moving. And the way I did it, though, was because through my

like deep curiosity about them, I could see that they had the same problems and they didn't know it. And there was no way they were going to come to that conclusion because of the architecture of the sector. Higher education is highly competitive. It is hierarchical. We are all a bunch of people who are trying to prove ourselves to each other with our pedigree and our publishing and our rankings.

like deep curiosity about them, I could see that they had the same problems and they didn't know it. And there was no way they were going to come to that conclusion because of the architecture of the sector. Higher education is highly competitive. It is hierarchical. We are all a bunch of people who are trying to prove ourselves to each other with our pedigree and our publishing and our rankings.

And it's just very much set up that the rewards and trappings pit you against others. And as a result, there's very little, space to share about shared problems and to really understand that maybe it's not you that's the problem. Maybe it's actually that these systems are problematic in their design. They were not designed around students.

And it's just very much set up that the rewards and trappings pit you against others. And as a result, there's very little, space to share about shared problems and to really understand that maybe it's not you that's the problem. Maybe it's actually that these systems are problematic in their design. They were not designed around students.