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2012 Innovator Awards

Each year, Southern Growth Policies Board honors initiatives that are improving the economy and quality of life in the South. The 2012 Innovator Awards will be chosen from initiatives that are successfully preparing Southerners to meet the workforce needs of a globally competitive business sector. These could be initiatives that are: raising awareness of potential career paths and opportunities; closing educational achievement gaps; improving access to post-secondary education; successfully promoting college completion; offering alternative pathways involving robust technical and vocational training programs; working with businesses to establish credentials that meet industry needs; connecting the dots between different players—from K-12 to community colleges to universities to industry; or making other strides towards better outcomes for both young people and the region’s business sector.

Innovator Awards are presented annually to one organization in each of Southern Growth’s member states— Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.

Each nominated initiative must meet the following minimum criteria:

• Take place in one of Southern Growth’s member states
• Be truly unique – or highly unusual
• Provide a proven track record or other reliable measures of future success

In addition, each initiative will ideally exhibit one or more of the following characteristics:

• Create links between education, workforce and economic development activities.
• Connect different levels of education – from pre-school to K-12 to community colleges to universities.
• Actively engage the business community and promote collaboration and partnerships across sectors (public/private/nonprofit).
• Demonstrate collaboration between or among regions (multi-state, multi-county, or multi-community).

The Deadline for nominations has expired.

An outside evaluation panel will choose one innovator from each Southern Growth member state for this award. Innovator award winners will be given the opportunity to showcase their programs to leaders from throughout the region via virtual, online events leading up to Southern Growth Policies Board’s 2012 Chairman’s conference. Program representatives will also receive complimentary registration to the conference itself, to be held on June 25-26, 2012 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

For specific questions regarding nominees, please contact Scott Doron at sdoron@southern.org or 919-941-5145. For more information on Southern Growth Policies Board, visit http://www.southern.org.