One hundred students from Texas high schools will arrive at The University of Texas at Austin June 12 to begin an intensive five-day leadership academy.
Subiendo: The Academy for Rising Leaders, in its second year, is designed to give the students the skills to address the needs of the next generation, including a growing Hispanic population that has become the largest and youngest minority group in the United States.
The program is hosted by the McCombs School of Business and the Texas Exes.
“Subiendo is a triple play for the university,” said Thomas W. Gilligan, dean of the McCombs School. “We inspire a student population that is poised to assume business and societal stewardship, taking advantage of McCombs’ core strength in leadership growth, while perfecting a best-case model for philanthropic partnership between the university and the corporate world.”
Students will meet and hear from Texas’s most distinguished political and business leadership, including:
- Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman
- Sara Martinez Tucker, former undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Education
- Texas business legend Red McCombs
- George P. Bush, partner at Pennybacker Capital and son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
- Eduardo Repetto, co-chief executive officer and chief financial officer of Dimensional Fund Advisors
- Texas state legislators Carol Alvarado, Trey Martinez Fischer, Eddie Rodriguez and Mark Strama
The week’s activities include an etiquette dinner during which students will sit among high-profile community leaders; a tour of the LBJ Library and Museum; workshops on communications, financial literacy, writing skills, personal leadership and presentation; a college and career fair; and time for the students to work on creating a policy to help solve a real-world problem in their communities.
On Thursday, June 16, the students will travel to the Texas State Capitol where they will present the policies they have created, take questions from their fellow students and then vote on the best policy proposal. At the end of the practice, journalists from the Capitol press corps will ask the students questions about their work in a press conference-style simulation.
The academy is funded by philanthropy and is free for participating students. For the summer 2011 academy, applications were open to Texas high school students, regardless of race or ethnicity, who had completed their junior year of high school by July 1. Students were asked to complete an application and essay on the challenges facing the state of Texas and to submit an application online.
For more information, visit Subiendo Academy.
News media note: Spanish-language speakers available for interview.
