SAM is both a 501c3 non-profit organization and a community movement – funded by private donations and grants, working to convene action partners in fulfillment of the mission and vision to improve economic mobility across Spartanburg County, anchored in academic achievement.

History

For generations, Spartanburg County was a textile-driven economy. Academic achievement was not a “cultural value.”  Today, the demands of the economy have escalated radically, but commitment to academic achievement has not kept pace.

The timeline and effort for increasing educational value is detailed in "Fulfilling the Promise."

2008

OneSpartanburg, Inc. (formerly known as the Spartanburg Area Chamber of Commerce) assembled the Task Force on College Degree Attainment charged to examine the connection between economic development and educational achievement. At that time, 19.2% of adults 25 and older held bachelor’s degree, with the state average at 22.7% and the nation at 27%.  Regions with dynamic economies boasted rates above 40%. Spartanburg County was not in the game. 

Leading the list of Task Force recommendations was “The 40/30 Challenge” - doubling the number of adult bachelor’s degree holders in a generation, to 40% by 2030. 

2010

The Spartanburg County Foundation established and funded “The College Hub,” a non-profit charged to address this single benchmark by encouraging increasing numbers of young people to go to college and adults to return to complete degrees.

2012 

Two developments motivated a turn-around in the efforts of The College Hub.  

First was the College Hub’s merger with another non-profit, the Children’s Services Alliance.  The Alliance, also launched in 2008, served as a network engaging pre-K providers and agencies, and developed the important Toolkit for Kindergarten Readiness. 

The combined boards recognized that each had been working at extreme ends of the same education continuum.  They also recognized that advancing academic achievement across the entire spectrum was required if “The 40/30 Challenge” was to be realized.

A second development was the discovery of the StriveTogether Network. This collective-impact model for community-wide change was developed and launched across the school districts of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. 

With this discovery, everything changed for the College Hub:  the challenge, the model, the goals, the strategies, the metrics, the objectives, the funding, the staffing…even the name.  

2013-2014

No longer just “college” or “kindergarten readiness.”  No longer isolated points on the continuum. We were no longer a 'hub', but a movement.  

We became The Spartanburg Academic Movement, adopting a new brand and messaging strategy that  better aligned with our new efforts.

2018-2020 and beyond

SAM achieves the “Proof Point” designation among nationwide members of the StriveTogether network. This significant milestone tracks organizational strength and impact along the StriveTogether Theory of Action and signals a minimum of four of seven cradle-to-career outcome areas maintaining or improving for at least three years. StriveTogether will reassess this achievement in 2020 as SAM continues its work building toward recognition as a Systems Transformation organization:

“Focus on spreading and scaling interventions and bright spots cross sectors and championing work that improves economic mobility by: shifting the community narrative around accountability for improvement, deepening action toward equity and results at scale, creating data infrastructure that works across sectors, and intentionally and authentically shifting decision-making to families, youth and community. “

2022-2023

SAM has launched a Postsecondary Education Attainment Steering Committee to guide the development of an action plan to improve college enrollment and completion. SAM and its partners will advance Spartanburg’s economic vitality and overall quality of life by boosting college attainment rates, which influences higher incomes and better health, and for the community, influences a more active citizenry, increased tax revenues and decreased reliance on public assistance.

Postsecondary Attainment Steering Committee Leadership
Ty Dawkins and Dr. Boone Hopkins, co chairs of Community Engagement
Donette Stewart and Beth Thompson, co-chairs of Data and Effectiveness
Dr. Michael Mikota and Meghan Smith, co-chairs of Scaling Effective Practice
Scott Cochran and Dr. Bennie Harris, co-chairs of Piloting New Solutions Working Group