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“Education drives change.” This tagline appropriately addresses the theme of the Global Pathways Summit that was held in Nashville, Tennessee, February 22-25. This summit, developed by the Colombo Americano (a cultural institution specializing in the teaching of English and and the culture of English-speaking countries to socioeconomically disadvantaged groups in Colombia), Tennessee State University, and Vanderbilt University, brought together a number of HBCUS, other universities and schools in the United States, and universities in Colombia to to discuss and analyze the role of education in sparking innovation in the community. Inspired by the staggering development in Medellín, a city in Colombia that over a span of two decades went from being one of the most violent cities in the world to earning the title of “Innovative City of the Year” in 2013, this summit allowed participants to glean understanding and ideas about unlocking the transformative potential of education in the community.

The Center for Applied Second Language Studies at the University of Oregon has long believed in this power of education and participated in the summit alongside one of our partner institutions, Portland Public Schools. Specifically, CASLS and PPS representatives were on hand to offer the Bridging Project, a project that has resulted in the development of an online course for advanced secondary learners of Chinese, Spanish, and Russian, as an example of one way that partnerships in the community with Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) can drive innovation and change. Though this specific project was highlighted as an example of this push, the growth of the CASLS-PPS partnership and the lessons that accompanied that growth since its original inception during the articulation of a K-16 pipeline for Chinese Flagship served as major focus of the talk.