At the center of Thursday’s Cities of Promise Town Hall — to be held in the School of Management’s new campus, Edward P. Evans Hall — is the case study focused on the national Promise movement, the country’s premier place-based scholarship and economic development program. Representatives of Promise organizations from across the United States will discuss the challenges and opportunities in knitting together the various Promise organizations into a more formal network for collective impact.
“Promise programs share a big vision and role vital to tackling the challenges facing our nation around college access and success,” said Andrew Metrick, Deputy Dean of the Yale School of Management. “We have already established a relationship with New Haven Promise and its Promising Leaders initiative, pursuant to which our graduate students mentor and develop New Haven Promise’s scholars. We are pleased to assist the Promise community through utilization of our unique Yale case study method in support of this year’s PromiseNet conference.”
The event will be moderated by Emmy Award winner Jack Ford, who is a co-founder of the American Education Television Network. On the stage with Ford will be Dr. Janice Brown, a trustee of The Kalamazoo Promise, Saleem Ghubril, Executive Director of The Pittsburgh Promise, Patricia Melton, Executive Director of New Haven Promise and Dr. Gabriella Gonzalez, a sociologist at the RAND Corporation who has closely examined Promise programs.
Below is an overview of the case study — PromiseNet: Toward a More Unified Network? — authored by Rosalind Wiggins, Project Editor at the Yale School of Management. Download the full case study.
Here are some housekeeping items for attendees:
• Trainspotting — If you are taking either Amtrak or Metro North into New Haven, it is about a 15-minute walk to the Omni Hotel. You would walk north on Union Street (bear left under the bridge) to either George or Crown Streets, where you’d make a left. You’d walk three blocks to Temple Street and turn right and the hotel will be on the right side of the street. As the walk does go under a dark highway overpass, we recommend a short cab ride (roughly $6) at night.
• Some Sweet Deals — Several merchants are offering special rates for PromiseNet attendees. That includes everything from lunch and dinner to cookies… and even a variety of Mojitos! Special thanks to our friends at Visit New Haven for pulling together these wonderful values!
• Making Yourself Known — We still encourage attendees to send us your bios and photo if you’d like to let folks know you are coming to PromiseNet. We have roughly 75 bios and photos online and would be happy to create a page for you to help network. Please email Brett Hoover with your bio and image.
• Comfy Shoes, Hats & Gloves — New Haven is a green city. In fact, a half-block away from the Omni Hotel is the famous New Haven Green. Because it is a city designed for walking, we encourage attendees to join in the spirit and walk to some of the conference locales, which are all within a mile of the hotel. The extended forecast is calling for sunny, but cold and perhaps windy, conditions.
• Freeing Up Your Signal — There is not free WiFi in rooms at the Omni, unless you sign up for the Omni Loyalty Program, which means you will likely get member notifications and such. There is free WiFi in the lobby of the hotel.
Syracuse University researchers Ross Rubenstein, Robert Bifulco and Honsung Sohn will present findings on the effects of 
PromiseNet 2014 