Can a grassroots campaign engage citizens across Birmingham to create a new vision of the future for Birmingham's children and its school system?  Yes We Can! Birmingham is the resounding answer, as well as the name of an initiative of the Community Foundation that successfully led to the creation of the Birmingham Education Foundation.

What came first
In a series of public meetings in 2007, school officials and community leaders joined hundreds of volunteers to learn more about this work.  Based on a nationally recognized model, Yes We Can! Birmingham focused on giving citizens a voice in the process and creating a community agreement on what matters and how we can achieve it together.

In a series of more than 100 Community Conversations, from April to August of 2008 in libraries, churches and community centers across Birmingham, participants had a chance to raise their voices about the future of the city's school system. Karen Rolen, representing the Community Foundation, and Gary Grooms of Alabama Power  coordinated the overall initiative. Heading a Leadership Team guiding the process were Elaine Jackson of Birmingham Urban League and Ruffner Page of McWane Inc. 

In September of 2008, the results of those Community Conversations, representing 2,000 individuals, became a Community Agreement which was accepted by the Birmingham Board of Education and became part of their strategic plan, adopted in the spring of 2009. 

Creation of Birmingham Education Foundation
One of the promises of the Yes We Can! Birmingham grassroots campaign was to form a separate nonprofit organization to support Birmingham City Schools and to keep citizens engaged in this important work. That organization is the Birmingham Education Foundation, which held its first official board meeting in early 2009 with Fred McCallum, President of AT&T Alabama as chair and hired executive director Dr. Michael Froning in 2010.
 
The BEF vision is that the children of Birmingham are fully prepared for success in their work and life. Their mission is to bring the voice of the community to Birmingham City Schools leadership and work with that leadership to provide a range of support to allow the system to fulfill its mission and vision for Birmingham’s children.

The Community Foundation is continuing to assist BEF in two main ways:
  - Karen Rolen, Vice President Community Investment serves on the BEF board
  - $260,000 multi-year startup grant from from a Community Foundation fund designated to support Birmingham City Schools, which led to the hiring of the first executive director, Dr. Michael Froning, in March 2010.

For more information, check the Birmingham Education Foundation website or call Froning at 914-2136.