MEDIA ADVISORY For Immediate Release

Contact: Jane Austin 612.455.1564 jaustin@achievempls.org

AchieveMpls Hosts Media Conference with San Antonio Mayor Julin Castro
Tuesday, November 12, 2013 10:30 11:00 am The Depot (Rock Island Room) 225 South 3rd Avenue, Minneapolis MINNEAPOLIS San Antonio Mayor Julin Castro a passionate education advocate, rising national Democratic Party star and youngest mayor of a Top 50 American City will be available to meet with reporters on Tuesday, November 12 at 10:30 am at The Depot, 225 South Third Avenue in Minneapolis. Mayor Castro will be in Minneapolis as keynote speaker for the 11th annual AchieveMpls Education Partners Luncheon on Building Brainpower Cities: Bold Leadership for Urban Public Education . Presented by Best Buy, over 600 Twin Cities business, education, and civic leaders will gather to celebrate their strong commitment to public education. Also speaking at the event will be Mayor RT Rybak and Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson. Now in his third term of office, Mayor Castro has focused on attracting high-paying 21st century jobs and positioning San Antonio as a leader in the New Energy Economy by raising educational attainment across the spectrum. He is the author of SA2020, a community-wide visioning effort that has galvanized thousands around a simple but powerful vision for San Antonio: creating a brainpower community that is the liveliest in the nation. Under his leadership, the city established Caf Collegea one-stop center for guidance on college admissions, financial aid and test preparationand approved a public referendum that significantly expands pre-K services. Mayor Castro recently joined mayors from Denver, Sacramento and Providence to bring attention to the nations massive academic achievement gap by launching the Mayors for Education Excellence Tour, a national initiative to showcase best practices in boosting educational achievement. He also appears in the brand new PBS Independent Lens film The Graduates/Los Graduados, which explores first-hand perspectives on key challenges facing Latino and Latina students, families, educators and community leaders. Mayor Castro came to national attention in 2012 as the first Latino keynote speaker at a Democratic National Convention. In 2010, he was named to the World Economic Forum's list of Young Global Leaders and Time magazines 40 under 40 list of rising stars in American politics. Mayor Castro holds degrees from Stanford University and Harvard Law School, and he credits his mother a community activist who helped establish the Chicano political party La Raza Unida for his passion for public service. He is married to Erica Lira Castro, an elementary school teacher, and is the twin brother of U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro. ###
About AchieveMpls: As the nonprofit partner of the Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS), AchieveMpls mobilizes community resources to accomplish our goal of every student career and college ready. We direct the STEP-UP Achieve youth employment program with the City of Minneapolis, manage Career & College Centers in MPS high schools, raise funds for MPS strategic priorities, and engage our community as volunteers, employers, funders and advocates for student success. Learn more at www.achievempls.org or call Jane Austin at 612.455.1564.