The Children and Families Council of the Office of the Governor in partnership with the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands, through private foundation support, hosted two Business Leaders Summits. Due to the nature of the Virgin Islands, there were two summits, one on the island of St. Croix and one on St. Thomas. The purpose of the summits was to inform Virgin Islands business leaders on the evidence of the economic return on investment in high quality early childhood experiences and for them to recognize their important leadership role in advocacy and policy change.

Agenda

View the agenda here (PDF)

Summit Materials

• View the call to action (PDF)
• View the table tents for roundtable discussions (PDF)

Speakers

Name, Title, Affiliation

The Honorable John P. de Jongh, Jr., Governor, U.S. Virgin Islands

First Lady Cecile de Jongh

Dee Baecher-Brown, President, Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands

Dr. Ross Thompson, Department of Psychology, University of California Davis (Presentation)

Rob Grunewald, Associate Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis (Presentation)

Lloyd Lamm, Capital Region Executive, First National Bank of Pennsylvania

Sara Watson, Director, Partnership for America's Economic Success

Media Coverage

"Investing in our Children." The Government House Blog. June 16, 2010.

Carol Buchanan. "Business Leaders Urged to Invest in Early Childhood Initiatives." St. Croix Source. June 15, 2010.