Building Bright Futures Celebrates with NCBCE

On June 11th, Building Bright Futures (BBF) was highlighted during the North Carolina Business Committee for Education (NCBCE)’s annual member luncheon at the Governor’s Executive Mansion. The event, honoring NCBCE’s business members, was an opportunity for attendees to hear from participants in four of the organization’s workforce initiatives. BBF was joined by several of its team members from Early Years and DCDEE.

During the luncheon, NCBCE’s Board Chair Julia Wright, External Affairs Manager at Enbridge, and NCBCE Executive Director, Caroline Sullivan, interviewed participants “Oprah style” from four of NCBCE’s initiatives, including Building Bright Futures. Educators and business leaders from each initiative told attendees about the impact the initiative has had on them in terms of resources, educational support, and career readiness. BBF was honored to host Ebony Watts, Director and Owner at Lil’ Explorers Learning Center in Durham, who shared her experiences as part of BBF. Her enthusiasm for the program, especially for its impact on child care providers just starting out, was evident in her words. Ms. Watts emphasized how BBF support provides apprentices with educational opportunities, which in turns brings bright new ideas and perspectives to their teaching. She also spoke about how BBF funding helped her provide a higher starting teacher wage, improve the curriculum, and purchase needed supplies for her center, resulting in a more creative learning environment. The audience could see how passionate Ms. Watts is not only about supporting her educators, but also about building a future for Durham’s young children.

Governor Josh Stein joined the guests and spoke to attendees about NCBCE’s pivotal role in connecting businesses, educators, and students to continue building a strong workforce in North Carolina. He reminded attendees that he is a strong supporter of all workforce efforts for our great state and thanked NCBCE for their continued leadership in this area. 

NCBCE is an education and workforce non-profit organization housed in the Office of the Governor whose membership is comprised of businesses from across North Carolina. For more than 40 years, NCBCE has been enabling employers to grow and support their future talent and foster meaningful connections with their communities. To learn more about NCBCE or to become a member of NCBCE, click here.