Good News-Letter from Pearl, Winter 2018

Happy 2018!

I hope your new year is filled with much joy, good health, and continued success.

With this new year comes some exciting new endeavors. January marks the birth of my consulting business, Shàn Strategies. Shàn is the mandarin word meaning, “to do good” in the world. Together with a deep belief in the power of collaboration, shàn is a tenet which has always grounded me personally and professionally. Shàn Strategies' goal is to help purpose-driven organizations and initiatives fulfill their missions, collaborate well, and grow their impact so that individuals reach their potential and communities thrive.

I am thrilled to have among my inaugural clients the Helios Education Foundation, in support of two key strategic investments - Achieve60AZ and the Decision Center for Educational Excellence. I am also pleased to be working with the Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden on deepening their education footprint in Arizona. 

On the volunteer front, I continue to serve on the boards of Teach for America Phoenix and the ASU Morrison Institute for Public Policy. I am also proud to have recently joined the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center board of directors. This is an organization that has delivered hope to my own family and so many others throughout the Valley, and put us on the map nationally as the most autism friendly city in the country! Additionally, after the termination of DACA in Fall of 2017, I had the privilege of working with a dear colleague and the Arizona Community Foundation to launch the AZDREAMs.org campaign to fund DACA renewals. A huge thank you to many of you who contributed to this campaign in which we raised $70,000 in 10 days! We continue to advocate for a permanent resolution as the deadline approaches in March.

I've learned so much already on this start-up adventure, including how to build my own website! I'd be so honored if you would check out my new site at www.ShanStrategies.com and let me know what you think. I invite you to come along on my start-up journey with me and learn more about the great things happening in our community through my Good News blog. Thank you so much for your support, and I hope there will be many opportunities for us to do good together!   

Warm regards,
Pearl

ASU and Helios Education Foundation Launch New Partnership

ASU's President Michael Crow and Vince Roig, Chairman and Paul Luna, President/CEO of Helios Education Foundation gather with community leaders to launch the ASU Decision Center for Educational Excellence. When finished, this new tool will serve as the most comprehensive education and workforce database in Arizona and allow policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and other concerned stakeholders make data-driven, real time decisions on how to improve education. The Decision Center will also serve as a national model for how a state and communities can work together to make the best decisions on behalf of students and companies. 

“We can have different ideas about how to improve education, but we can’t have different facts.”

— Vince Roig, Chairman of Helios Education Foundation

A Permanant Solution for Dreamers

In Fall of 2017, President Trump's administration announced the end of DACA status by March of 2018. There are over 27,000 individuals with DACA status, or Dreamers, in Arizona who have a $1.3 billion impact to the Arizona economy. They are friends, family members, loved ones, valued employees, and striving students. Recognizing the need to build community awareness and financial support, Pearl Chang Esau and Luis Avila together with the Arizona Community Foundation launched a campaign called AZ DREAMs (www.azdreams.org) to raise $50,000 to fund 100 DACA recipients to apply for their renewals before the October 5th deadline.

The campaign was a great success and exceeded $70,000! AZDREAMs.org provided support from over 100 DACA recipients and their families as well as numerous Arizona organizations who are working hard to serve Dreamers during this trying time. Special thanks to Amy Daukulis Armstrong, John Graham, the Burton Family Foundation & Katie Campana/Wells Fargo for getting the effort started with major gifts. Thanks as well to the various business leaders & their organizations who partnered to get the ask out there & money disbursed in short order including Chris Camacho, Glenn Hamer, Gonzalo de la Melena Jr., Neil Giuliano, Julie Engel, Jenny Poon, Odeen Domingo, Kimber Lanning, One Arizona, and Aliento. Finally, thanks to the folks who loaned their communications expertise to develop a beautiful website and campaign materials - Kyle Crafton, Lizelle Galaz, and CoHoots. This was an incredibly inspiring team effort and evidence that together, anything can be accomplished! A solution has not yet been reached by Congress, so AZ DREAMs will continue to serve as a channel to raise awareness and support for Dreamers. ONWARD to a permanent solution that will give these families peace and hope for the future.

Achieve60AZ hires its first Executive Director

Achieve60AZ is a statewide community-owned initiative, comprised of an independent Alliance of over 70 community, business, philanthropic, nonprofit, and education organizations. It is fueled by a grassroots effort to make Arizona more competitive through the power of education. Achieve60AZ’s vision is that Arizona has a diverse, well-educated, highly-skilled workforce participating in a thriving economy.  Its mission is to advance the postsecondary attainment of Arizonans by acting as a catalyst for collaboration, public awareness, public policy, and data-informed planning and measurement. Read more here to learn about Achieve60AZ's first executive director, Rachel Yanof.

SARRC leads the way in autism awareness

In December 2017, I attended my first meeting as a board member of SARRC (Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center). It's hard to even put into words how much SARRC has given hope to my family and countless others. Hope, a way forward in the darkness, a belief in miracles, limitless expectation for the future. I am thrilled to be able to champion this organization, it's talented team, and its fearless leader, Danny Openden. We also have to thank Denise Resnik for co-founding SARRC many years ago. She introduced me to SARRC when my husband and I first moved to the Valley by inviting me to my first breakfast in 2009. The SARRC breakfast is one of the largest events of its kind in the Valley and is a tear jerker every time.

Thanks to SARRC, we live in the most "autism friendly city in America." What a treasure we have in our own backyard! For World Autism Awareness Day, Danny and Pearl co-authored an Op-Ed for the Arizona Republic. To read it click here.