Ken Bedell, senior advisor in the Education Department's Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships Center, will deliver remarks at the 2014 Gulen Institute Conference on Wednesday, Feb. 19 at the University of Houston. He will discuss the focus of the Obama administration on disadvantaged youth and the strategies that the center has implemented to encourage and support non-governmental organizations’ involvement in American education. Specifically, Bedell will describe the goals and outcomes of two initiatives: Together for Tomorrow and the President's Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge.
The conference is an annual event sponsored by the Gulen Institute and the College of Education at the University of Houston. This year's theme is "The role of government agencies and NGOs in the education of disadvantaged youth." Scholars from Rice University, Pennsylvania State University, University of Houston, Vanderbilt University, and Ohio State University will participate.
The event will bring together academicians, scholars, and researchers whose work addresses educating disadvantaged students, providing them an opportunity to share new findings and discussing new approaches to the challenges of today's world.
The Gulen Institute is a non-profit research organization dedicated to the promotion of peace and civic welfare. The institute's primary goal is to advance original academic work in conflict resolution, poverty, and education that articulates the challenges faced by global communities and theorizes possible solutions.