Jayne Gibson

Executive Director Austin Aspires

Vision 2020’s Education Leaders committee created Austin Aspires in 2014 to achieve a goal of regional excellence in education in our community.

Under the leadership of Executive Director Jennifer Lawhead, this non-profit organization began to work towards its mission to “bring together community resources and families to challenge all learners to seek excellence and equip them to achieve results through shared community vision, evidence-based decision making, collaborative action, and investment and sustainability”.

I am excited to join this incredible organization as the new Executive Director.  Austin Aspires is governed by a board of community volunteers and initial funding has been provided by Hormel Foods Corporation, The Hormel Foundation and Mayo Clinic Health System – Albert Lea Austin. Additional grants and donations have been secured to support work completed by action teams.

The Kindergarten Readiness team has worked closely with First United Methodist Church to complete kindergarten readiness kits to distribute to children participating in early childhood screening. The Academic Potential team has launched a ‘SPARKS’ campaign to help each student find their passion, and use that passion to maximize their education. Job shadow opportunities for high school students at Austin High School and Pacelli have been expanded because of the work of the College and Career action team.

The importance of school attendance at all grade levels has been researched and heavily promoted by the Health team; and finally, the work of the Parents and Mentors action team resulted in a Parent to Parent Facebook page in which parents provide tips, tricks and support to other parents.

In addition to the work of action team members, 22 community leaders from business, faith communities, government, philanthropic organizations, schools, and the county, meet regularly to focus their energy and efforts around supporting our children to meet the identified goals.

Great things are in place for children in Austin; however, we have the opportunity to make it better. The spirit of the work behind Austin Aspires revolves around the idea of collective impact, working together toward a common goal driven by the needs of our community. We are committed to continuing our work to align resources with the many incredible things happening in our community. We want Austin to be “recognized as a leader in education with a culture of educational excellence, cradle to career, embraced in every aspect of our community.”

How can you help?

Join an Action Team! The Action Teams consist of members from all sectors of our community and are formed around each of our goal areas. These teams identify and implement strategies to measure and achieve our aspirational goals. We welcome all community members who are passionate about education to join us in our work.

Please contact Jayne Gibson, director@austinaspires.org, 507-437-0920 to learn more or become involved!