Harvesting Our Home-Grown Talent | Patricia Melton | TEDxNewHaven
The speaker argues that the value in a community is in its homegrown talent, citing the "Promise Program" model which keeps youth in the city through tuition benefits and community requirements. He uses the parallel between the environmental advocacy of the Lorax and the community nurturing of local youth to argue that local investment is necessary for sustained success. The strongest evidence is the projection that graduates of the program could contribute $1.6 billion to the city's capital endowment over a lifetime.
## Speakers & Context
- Speaker: Unidentified speaker, presenting on community investment and youth development.
- Friend/Subject: The Lorax (the environmentally conscious character speaking for trees), based on a Dr. Seuss book/movie.
- Audience Awareness: The speaker noted that attendees recognized the friend by name, suggesting prior knowledge of the Lorax.
## Theses & Positions
- The value in a community lies in its "homegrown Talent."
- Talent is *"equally distributed"* regardless of where one lives (e.g., New Haven, East Rock, India).
- The key difference is the *"opportunity to develop that Talent,"* which requires community intervention.
- A comprehensive model, like the "Promise Program," is needed to connect resources and follow students from pre-K through life.
- Developing local youth is an *economic intervention* that prevents talent from leaving the city.
- The approach is not an "entitlement" but relies on student engagement, community partnership, and giving back to the city.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Scholarship:** Financial aid mechanism described as necessary for educational access, requiring passing tests, essays, and interviews.
- **Tuition Benefit:** Program element that aids parents in enabling students to attend college within the city.
- **Community Service Requirement:** A mandated activity that takes students outside their immediate neighborhood ("project or their block or their home") to engage with various local resources.
- **Capital Endowment:** The cumulative financial potential generated by the successes of the young people in the city, cited as a measure of long-term economic impact.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Scholarship Acquisition:** Required multiple steps: taking tests, writing essays, and participating in an interview.
- **Community Nurturing Model:** The "Promise Program" acts as a "boundary spanning organization" that connects disparate resources (non-profits, local institutions) to support students.
- **Program Function:** Follows students from pre-K, ensuring continuity of support and connection to the city's lifeblood.
- **Civic Engagement:** Requires students to learn how to navigate and engage with local resources, simultaneously requiring resources to engage with the students.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **Speaker's Background:** Lived in the "projects" in Cleveland, Ohio; attended Tremont elementary school (grades 3-6).
- **Personal Crisis:** Mother's death via a "terrible car accident" when the speaker was 12.
- **Post-Traumatic Change:** The mother's death changed the speaker's path, leading her to pursue education.
- **Scholarship Application:** At age 13, the speaker proactively wrote to schools in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York state a year in advance of applying for scholarships.
- **Program Launch:** The "Promise Program" was established over **12 years ago**.
- **Program Milestones:** The program has seen its impact accelerate, demonstrating a shift from historical struggle to current success.
## Named Entities
- **Cleveland, Ohio:** Location where the speaker grew up.
- **Tremont elementary school:** Speaker's primary school in Cleveland.
- **The Cleveland House of Corrections:** Facility where the speaker's father was incarcerated.
- **New Haven:** The location where the speaker is currently advocating for the model.
- **Yale:** Mentioned in reference to the endowment funding comparison.
- **Chicago:** Mentioned as a city with a comparable program ("Hope Scholarship").
## Numbers & Data
- Speaker's school tenure: **Grade 3 to 6**.
- Speaker's age when mother died: **12**.
- Scholarship application time frame: **A year in advance** of actual application.
- Program duration since launch: **12 years**.
- Current annual funding amount: **$25 million**.
- Current total investment: **$5 million per year** (implied annual commitment).
- Graduation Rate Change (NHPS): From **50-55-56%** (mid-50s) to **over 80%** in under 10 years.
- Projected Graduates (Initial): **700**.
- Actual Graduates (By 2020): **Surpassed 700**.
- Projected Lifetime Contribution: **$1.6 billion**.
- Alumni Retention Rate: **85%** of recent alumni surveyed want to stay in the city.
## Examples & Cases
- **Early Childhood Environment:** Growing up in the "projects" with a "rich culture of Storytelling and song," rather than having easy access to books.
- **The Storytelling Contrast:** The speaker's early vocabulary usage ("gross") which caused confusion among friends and family upon moving to a new environment.
- **Local Investment Impact:** The "Promise Program" generating a financial impact showing potential over a lifetime of earnings for its young people.
- **City Development Correlation:** Noting that development dollars often cluster around Main Street, while the program targets investment into the neighborhood's lifeblood.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Encyclopedia Britannica:** A physical, dry book set that was available in the speaker's home.
- **"Promise Program":** The organizational model and framework used to connect resources for local youth development.
- **"Hope Scholarship":** A comparable program announced in Chicago.
## References Cited
- **The Lorax:** Environmental character and associated book by Dr. Seuss.
- **Dr. Seuss:** Creator of *The Lorax*.
- **New Haven Public Schools:** The educational system benefiting from the described model.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- The speaker addressed the potential criticism that the program implies local residents are "entitled" to benefits.
- Countering the narrative that "all the young kids are leaving us."
## Methodology
- **Qualitative/Anecdotal:** Sharing personal narrative (mother's death, moving to new environment) to establish vulnerability and motivation.
- **Economic Modeling:** Using projections and comparative data (e.g., graduate earning potential) to prove the value of community investment.
- **Survey Data:** Citing "most recent alumni survey" results (85% desire to stay).
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The community must actively and comprehensively embrace its young people through structured, long-term, and multi-faceted support (like tuition benefits).
- The message is one of **"Hope with some teeth in it"**—it requires structured action, not just good intentions.
- The ultimate action required is to *"continue to harvest our homegrown Talent."*
## Implications & Consequences
- Failure to intervene means that local talent risks being overlooked or leaving the community, thereby diminishing the city's economic "lifeblood."
- Successful models shift a city's growth pattern to reinvest in established neighborhoods rather than just new developments.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"I am willing to wager that most of you know my friend here by a show of hands."*
- *"I grew up in a rich culture of Storytelling and song."*
- *"I did know for sure that my mother's death changed me for a lifetime."*
- *"I sent away for information about the school I realized that this was a place that actually cost a lot of money."*
- *"I want you to know who I am because I am going to need this scholarship."*
- *"Talent is equally distributed."*
- *"The value add is our community."*
- *"This is not an entitlement this is about students giving to their City learning who the non-profits are and the opportunities here."*
- *"it's hope but it's hope with some teeth in it."*
- *"homegrown Talent is a new model that needs to be embraced."*
- *"continue to harvest our homegrown Talent"*