Organization: Center for Houston's Future Inc
Mission: THE CENTER INSPIRES LEADERS TO IDENTIFY MATTERS OF THE HIGHEST IMPORTANCE TO THE LONG-TERM FUTURE OF THE GREATER HOUSTON REGION & TO COLLABORATE IN ADDRESSING THOSE CHALLENGES
Activities: STRATEGIC PLANNING & RESEARCH: IN COLLABORATION WITH STAKEHOLDERS FROM BUSINESS, COMMUNITY AND ACADEMIA, CHF WORKS TO IDENTIFY THE IMPORTANT LONG-RANGE ISSUES FACING THE GREATER HOUSTON REGION AND FACILITATE PROGRAMS/INITIATIVES TO DEVELOP/IMPLEMENT SOLUTIONS TO PROBLEMS AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OPPORTUNITIES. WE EXECUTE DATA-DRIVEN RESEARCH AND SOLICIT A RANGE OF COMMUNITY INPUT. IN 2019, THE CENTER UNDERTOOK WORK IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS: IMMIGRATION: WE WORK TO GUIDE BUSINESS AND COMMUNITY LEADERS TO DEVELOP A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF HOW IMMIGRATION IS INTEGRAL TO THE SUCCESS OF REGIONS ECONOMY AND TO BUILD CONSENSUS AROUND SOLUTIONS. WE PARTNERED AND COLLABORATED WITH A RANGE OF LOCAL, STATE AND NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS ON OUR WORK. WE RELEASED A MAJOR REPORT INCLUDING HOUSTONS ECONOMIC FUTURE: IMMIGRATION AT AN EVENT AT RICE UNIVERSITYS BAKER INSTITUTE KEYNOTED BY HOUSTONS MAYOR AND OUR TOP ELECTED COUNTY OFFICIAL. THE REPORT INCLUDED ECONOMIC MODELING AND FINDINGS FROM INTERVIEWS AND INDUSTRY FOCUS GROUPS. WE SHARED OUR FINDINGS VIA IN EVENTS, SPEECHES, ONE-ON-ONE MEETINGS, AND TRADITIONAL AND SOCIAL MEDIA. WE ALSO WORKED WITH A FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY, RATIONAL MIDDLE, ON A SERIES OF 10 SHORT FACT-BASED, DOCUMENTARY VIDEOS AND A RELATED PODCAST. WE OBTAINED BROAD FUNDING SUPPORT FROM CORPORATE, FOUNDATION AND INDIVIDUAL INTERESTS. ENERGY, ENERGY TRANSITION AND CLIMATE: WE WORK TO ENSURE THAT THE HOUSTON REGION LEADS AND THRIVES DURING THE ENERGY TRANSITION. WE ARE HELPING TO CATALYZING NEW MARKETS AND DECARBONIZATION EFFORTS. IN 2019, WE HOSTED OUR FIRST ANNUAL HOUSTON LOW-CARBON ENERGY SUMMIT, WHICH DREW MORE THAN 400 ATTENDEES, MORE THAN 40 NATIONAL AND LOCAL SPEAKERS, AND SIGNIFICANT MEDIA COVERAGE. WE ALSO CONDUCTED A SERIES OF INTERVIEWS WITH KEY ENERGY STAKEHOLDERS AND RELEASED CONCLUSIONS FROM THE SUMMIT AND THE INTERVIEWS. THOSE INCLUDED THAT HOUSTON HAS SIGNIFICANT OPPORTUNITY TO LEAD IN CREATING A LOW-CARBON ENERGY FUTURE AND IS WELL POSITIONED TO BE AN INNOVATION HUB FOR TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS CARBON CAPTURE UTILIZATION AND STORAGE (CCUS) AND HYDROGEN. WE BEGAN PLANNING FOR 2020 ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING WORKING GROUPS, RESEARCH, AN EVENT SERIES AND A LOW-CARBON ENERGY INNOVATION SUMMIT. HEALTH: WE UNDERTOOK DATA ANALYSIS, INTERVIEWS AND FOCUS GROUPS FOR A MAJOR REPORT ON THE FUTURE OF THE HOUSTON REGIONS HEALTH CARE SECTOR. THE REPORT WILL INCLUDE FORECASTS ON EMPLOYMENT AND GDP, SUMMARIES OF KEY TRENDS SHAPING THE LOCAL INDUSTRY, RECOMMENDATIONS FOR MAXIMIZING THE SECTORS ECONOMIC BENEFITS TO THE REGION, AND DETAILS ON COVID-19.
BUSINESS/CIVIC LEADERSHIP FORUM: EVERYTHING WE DO IS DESIGNED TO SUPPLY LEADERS WITH SOLID DATA, AND TO NURTURE AND DEVELOP THE TALENTS THAT CREATE VISIONARY LEADERS. WITH OUR TWICE-ANNUAL LEADERSHIP FORUMS, WE IMMERSE PROVEN PROBLEM SOLVERS IN THE ISSUES. WE ARM THEM WITH DATA, INTRODUCE THEM TO THE EXPERTS PROVIDE CONTEXT AND INFORMATION, AND THEN SEND THEM OUT ON "LEARNING JOURNEYS" TO GRAPPLE WITH THE ISSUES AND PROBLEMS FIRST-HAND. WE INSPIRE THESE DIVERSE LEADERS TO BECOME JUST AS PASSIONATE ABOUT CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AS THEY ARE ABOUT THEIR BOTTOM LINE. FOR BOTH EMERGING AND PROVEN LEADERS, OUR BUSINESS/CIVIC LEADERSHIP FORUMS DEVELOP A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CHALLENGES IN OUR COMMUNITY AND FOSTER A NEW SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE FUTURE. THE CENTER GRADUATED 51 PARTICIPANTS IN 2019, WITH 1,142 LEADERS OVERALL, AND IS SUCCEEDING AT ENRICHING HOUSTON'S DIVERSE BUSINESS/CIVIC LEADERSHIP AND IN MAKING SURE HOUSTON'S LEADERS ARE INFORMED AND ENGAGED IN CREATING A BETTER FUTURE FOR OUR REGION. IDEAS AND ISSUES ADDRESSED IN FORUMS CAN BE INTEGRATED INTO THE CENTER'S LARGER PLANS. FOR EXAMPLE, IN 2019, WE PRODUCED TWO COMMUNITY EVENTS THAT WERE CREATED AND PUT ON BY GRADUATES, ONE ON IMMIGRATION AND THE OTHER ON SMART CITIES. A COMMITTEE OF MORE THAN 30 GRADUATES ALSO BEGAN WORKING ON NEW WAYS FOR GRADUATES TO WORK WITH THE CENTER AND ENGAGE IN THE COMMUNITY.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT: THE END GAME IS FINDING AND IMPLEMENTING SOLUTIONS. CREATING COMMUNITY AWARENESS AND DIALOGUE IS A KEY TO SUCCESS. WE DO THIS BY HOSTING TWO HIGH-IMPACT, THOUGHT-LEADERSHIP EVENTS EACH YEAR AND OTHER TARGETED EVENTS AROUND ISSUES BOTH RELATED TO AND OUTSIDE OF STRATEGIC INITIATIVE TOPIC AREAS. LAST YEAR, ONE OF OUR MAJOR EVENTS FEATURED FORD FOUNDATION PRESIDENT DARREN WALKER, A NATIONAL LEADER WHO ATTRACTED MORE 600 ATTENDEES WHEN HE SPOKE ABOUT THE FUTURE OF PHILANTHROPY. OUR OTHER MAJOR EVENT FEATURED TOP OFFICIALS FROM THE STATEWIDE ORGANIZATION TEXAS 2036 TALKING ABOUT CRITICAL ISSUES FACING TEXAS. OUTSIDE OF OUR STRATEGIC COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DETAILED ABOVE, WE HELD EVENTS FOCUSED ON THE DIGITAL DIVIDE, SMART CITIES AND 5G.
NTEE category: Community Improvement & Capacity Building
Secondary category: Philanthropy, Voluntarism & Grantmaking Foundations