Our History

From Humble Beginnings…

Forming in the same way many nonprofits do, Educate Midland created to combat a growing community issue.

Despite Midland’s time-honored tradition of quality service and high-level performance, community leaders, parents, and educators began to notice a downturn in many of Midland’s educational success metrics.

This downturn was the result of a teacher shortage and an outdated outlook on student readiness throughout many grade levels. Through community collaboration by individuals involved with education, a plan was set in place to help ensure the success of students in the Midland school system. From this plan, Educate Midland was born with a clear purpose.

Operating as both a nonprofit and as a community initiative, Educate Midland’s mission is to empower and align the whole community by connecting people, ideas, and resources to create opportunities for all students to achieve their highest educational potential.

Empowering The Community

Educate Midland looked to allow the entire community to take ownership of student achievement. It was quickly understood that solving the complex problem of overhauling how society views educational success would take involvement from nearly all sectors of the Midland population.

Bridging The Gap

Through this realization, Educate Midland began to promote the importance of connection, beginning by listening to the concerns of the public. It was discovered that a disconnect existed between what matters to the community and the resources available to address these matters.

Establishing this connection through clear communication of a common goal further laid the framework Educate Midland would continue to operate on even today.

Measuring Achievement

After the goals of Educate Midland were clearly defined, data was analysed to create a way in which the established goals could best come to fruition. Proven methods of reaching each goal were discovered which continue to play a primary role in how Educate Midland has grown to continue to meet the needs of the community.

Collective Impact

In the fall of 2015, Educate Texas facilitated creating the foundation on which Educate Midland could thrive. The result was an ideology called Collective Impact.

Collective Impact has proven its utility in communities throughout Texas and the United States. The framework is a simple one: a dedicated board of directors and hired staff members would work with local industry leaders throughout education, business, philanthropic, nonprofit, and government sectors to focus on the many milestones in student’s lives from cradle to career.

Under this framework, Educate Midland, as a backbone organization, has succeeded in connecting, creating, and supporting many educational initiatives throughout the Permian Basin. As these relationships have continued to open doors and bring to light new opportunities and new needs, we have begun to hone in more than ever on systematic ways to apply community resources and specific pathways for student success. 

Looking to the Future with the My Plan Initiative

The future is bright for the educational institutions in the Midland community. As times change, so do the ways success is measured. For this reason, Educate Midland is launching the My Plan Initiative. 

The My Plan Initiative builds upon the core focus of Collective Impact, seeking to more directly outline the many different pathways students have laid before them while working to achieve lifelong success after they finish their education. 

Learn more about My Plan