Spotlight: AI, BARR Center, and Interbranch Relations at the CSG West Annual Meeting

In preparation for next month’s CSG West 77th Annual Meeting, we take this opportunity to highlight some of the fantastic speakers and sessions at this year’s event. We kick off Round 2 with a spotlight on the Annual Legislative Training Assembly session, speakers from the BARR Center, and multiple programs focused on AI.

Session:

Strengthening Interbranch Cooperation

Wednesday, July 10

8:30 A.M. – 10:00 A.M.

Chief Justice Kate Fox

Senator Eric Barlow

Stefan Johansson

Representative Karlee Provenza

Building lasting, effective policy solutions for our communities across the West takes coordinated efforts from all three branches of state government. For this year’s Annual Legislative Training Assembly (ALTA,) join the 2023 Western Legislative Academy President, Wyoming Representative Karlee Provenza, for an interactive panel discussion on efforts to address suicide prevention in the legislative, executive, and judiciary branches of Wyoming’s state government

Panelists:

Chief Justice Kate Fox

Wyoming Supreme Court

Stefan Johansson

Director | Wyoming Department of Health

Senator Eric Barlow

Wyoming

Representative Karlee Provenza

Wyoming

Megan Reder-Schopp

Director of Research

Beth Heimer

Senior Director of Coaching and Schools

Speaker Spotlight:

BARR Center

Friday, July 12

10:30 A.M.

Building Assets, Reducing Risks (BARR) is a K-12 comprehensive, strength-based approach to education that boosts achievement for all students by improving a school’s effectiveness at building relationships, leveraging real-time student data, and capitalizing on the strengths of students and staff.

Megan Reder-Schopp, a current doctoral candidate at Johns Hopkins University in educational neuroscience, brings more than a decade of experience in education, most recently serving at the university level as a director of counseling. Megan is currently responsible for integrating BARR into the national education conversation through data and evaluation and writing publications. She supports both internal and external evaluations of BARR, provides expertise in continuous improvement, research, and statistical analysis, and assists with writing grants and technical papers.

With 25 years of experience both in the classroom and in administration, Beth Heimer has served as a mentor, teacher, and curriculum review director. Beth is responsible for the quality oversight of coaching services to BARR schools, co-facilitates Professional Learning Communities for school site coordinators, and supports district-wide implementation and relationships within districts.

The BARR model is distinguished as one of the most proven, systemwide school improvement models within K-12 education. It is the first and only school improvement intervention to successfully climb the three tiers of evidence required under the U.S. Department of Education’s Investing in Innovation (i3) program. Learn more about BARR below!

VIDEO: "Explaining BARR"

BARR School Stories in 5 States

BARR Website

SESSION:

Student Achievement in and Beyond the Classroom

Hosted by the CSG West Education Committee

Friday, July 12 | 10:30 A.M. - 12:30 P.M.

Spotlight:

Wrapping Our Heads Around AI

CSG WEST ANNUAL MEETING SESSIONS

General Session with Technology Futurist Samantha Jordan

As a consultant with the Future Today Institute (FTI), a leading foresight and strategy firm founded by world-renowned futurist Amy Webb, Jordan helps organizations dissect the complexities of upcoming technological opportunities, while also factoring the inherent risks.

Trending Issues in Artificial Intelligence

The session will also highlight legislative actions across Western states to address the potential misuses or unintended consequences of AI while balancing the need for technological innovation.

AI, Robotics, and Autonomous Vehicles in Agriculture

Western states are adopting new strategies to manage water and other inputs effectively. Experts in the field will present new approaches in agriculture, ranching, and sustainable water supplies.

Leveraging AI for Legislative Staff

The session will focus on the aspects of AI that most impact legislative staff on the day-to-day, such as hiring practices, job retraining, ways it could improve research and functionality, as well as address security and ethical concerns. It will also highlight successful (and perhaps, not so successful) implementations.

Recent Events

Western Governors’ Associations Celebrates 40th Anniversary

On June 10-12, the Western Governors’ Association, a strategic regional partner of CSG West, convened its Annual Meeting in Olympic Valley, California. This year WGA is celebrating its 40th Anniversary, an important milestone for the organization, which convenes governors from nineteen western states and the Pacific Island governments of Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa for bipartisan policy development, information exchange, and collective action on issues of critical importance to the region.

California Governor Gavin Newsom welcomed his fellow governors to the Golden State, which was attended by New Mexico Michelle Lujan Grisham, Idaho Governor Brad Little (2024 WGA Chair), Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, and North Dakota Doug Burgum. The governors addressed the issues of decarbonizing the West, modernizing disaster preparedness and response, combating the opioid crisis, and water resources. Moreover, the meeting featured presentations from the Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Xochitl Torres Small; Acting Deputy Secretary of the U.S Department of Interior, Laura Daniels; and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Xavier Becerra. See meeting highlights.

During the meeting, the governors released their Decarbonizing the West Initiative Report, which was an initiative by WGA Chair, Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon. The initiative was aimed at examining how decarbonization strategies can position the western states at the forefront of innovation and reduce CO2 in the atmosphere. The report outlines several policy recommendations for advancing carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies, as well as maximizing the region’s capacity for natural carbon sequestration through enhanced land and agricultural management practices. The governors also adopted five resolutions on disaster preparedness and response, transportation infrastructure, water resource management, cleanup of abandoned Hardrock mines, and water quality.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the governors elected New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham as WGA chair, and Utah Governor Spencer Cox as vice chair. Governor Lujan Grisham stated that her focus as WGA chair will be on the topic of housing.

CSG West congratulates the WGA on its 40th Anniversary and looks forward to continuing to collaborate with Western governors and other executive branch officials to advance the interests of the region.

THE COUNCIL OF STATE GOVERNMENTS WEST www.csgwest.org

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