from large, urban centers, such as houston, texas to small, rural communities such as kenston, north carolina. whether you've been a part of the grad nation campaign for a while now, or whether you're new to the movement, we think you'll be able to learn a lot over the next several days. and we hope you can learn and share your experiences much as you can while you're here so you can be more involved and most importantly, inspire others to join us when you return home. you'll learn from all different sectors about what's working, from communities, government, business, nonprofits, and young people themselves. we hope you'll be really attuned to these success stories, because many of them can be replicated in your own community. we also hope you'll be attuned to the new ways you can work with others in your community. one thing we have learned, cross sector collaboration is critical if communities are going to succeed in raising graduation rates and preparing young people for success in college and in careers. we can't do it in silos. everyone can help end the community dropout crisis