This conference is designed to bring together leaders in postsecondary education, policy, and business to examine and discuss the mutually reinforcing relationships among education, jobs, and Arizona's economic growth.

Day one begins with Dr. Michael Mandelbaum, a leading foreign policy expert and co-author (with Thomas Friedman) of That Used to be Us: How America Fell Behind in the World It Invented and How We Can Come Back. Participants will be among the first to hear the concepts in this cutting edge book which outlines America's four major challenges and includes four chapters on education and one on the 21st Century Workforce. Dr. Mandelbaum is the Christian A. Herter Professor of American Foreign Policy at Johns Hopkins University.

To ensure relevance to the needs of Arizona, the newly published "To Learn and Earn: Arizonans' Experiences Competing in the Race for Good Jobs" will serve as a framework for the conference leading to the examination of Arizona's educational success in preparing a 21st century workforce.

Panelists Senator Rich Crandall, Representative Steve Court, and Karla Phillips, Education Policy Advisor to Governor Brewer will present a preview of the 2012 legislative and policy agenda.

Day two begins with Dr. Martha Laboissiere, Associate Principal of McKinsey & Company, presenting Preparing a Workforce for the Next Arizona Economy: Bringing together ideas from "An Economy that Works: Job Creation and America's Future" and from "Winning by Degrees." She will then join a panel of business and government leaders to examine these ideas as they relate to Arizona's future.

Other sessions will include Strategies for Success and Workforce Readiness for Adult Students, Arizona's Productivity Initiative, Innovations to Prepare Students for College Success, Leading Social Change through Collective Impact, Achieving Arizona's Big Goal. College access professionals are invited to join the Arizona College Access Network (AzCAN) for sessions tailored to their needs. Exceptional programs will be honored at the Pathways Awards Breakfast.