Professor Sean Reardon, a Stanford researcher, was the keynote speaker for our annual Make It Your Business Luncheon. Reardon received his doctorate from Harvard and has spent his career researching how to ensure every child is able to obtain the best education.

In his keynote address, he says statistics indicate some Oregon school districts are outperforming other school districts in similar socioeconomic areas but: "That opportunity is not equally shared by race or by socioeconomic backgrounds. That says we have a lot of work to do as a society about how we create broader opportunity."

He says gaps in educational opportunity start very early, and groups like Children's Institute, that take a holistic look at the social safety net, have the best chance of changing the trajectory of young people.