about us
Elane V. Scott
Elane’s early career in advertising focused on how to drive human behavior and choice around consumer products. She learned how brain research was used to target personal product decision-making.
Using the same tools, she chose to change her focus to helping parents and community professionals understand how they could shape and positively impact the people in their lives.
She has worked in nearly every economic sector and played a key role in creating global workforce strategies in STEM. She continues to help ensure the success of children and families.
Rick Stephens
Rick retired from the Boeing Company after a 33-year career in finance, engineering, and general management, and concluding as the global leader of Human Resources and Administration.
His focus has been on leadership and managing complex business and technical challenges, including those related to Boeing’s Space Shuttle and Homeland Security businesses.
He has spoken to thousands around the globe on workforce development, was inducted in the National Management Association Hall of Fame, supported three US Cabinet Secretaries, has testified before Congress, and served on the US President’s Council for Tribal Colleges.
What does “Raising Families” mean?
Raising Families is an inclusive term that refers to three very important sets of relationships that are all developing and influencing each other at the same time in the context of our communities and society as a whole.
What often makes parenting so tough is that we’re constantly growing and evolving in so many areas. It’s not just about the parent/child relationship, which is the main topic of almost all parent education resources.
The dynamics of our partner/partner relationship are shifting as we change from two adults responsible for ourselves to two adults responsible for one (or more) new people who need a lot of attention.
On top of that, our relationship with ourselves and our own identity has to make a major leap forward when we become a parent. The former self/emerging self relationship needs careful nurturing and looks different for every single one of us.
All three of those relationships require thoughtful and simultaneous attention. Progress in one relationship always strengthens the other two. Stepping back to see the big picture of what it takes to not just raise good kids but raise an entire exceptional family motivates us every day.
Helping you feel that same motivation to learn more and grow stronger in all of your relationships is our mission.
A Strong History
Raising Families co-founders Elane V. Scott and Rick Stephens began working on issues of education and future workforce development in the late 1990s with their initial focus on developing a capable workforce. At that time, the organization was known as Birth2Work.
Elane’s life work has been dedicated to the study of building capable, successful people drawing on her vast collection of experiences in academia, marketing, media, community service, parenting, and technology. Rick’s background, meanwhile, focused on business, leadership, and complex systems.
Together, they hosted workshops and engaged in conferences in the US and around the globe, all focused on helping ensure the future workforce was ready to meet the needs of employers and communities.
In 2006, they published their first book, The System: Igniting the Soul of Commerce, which has been updated and reprinted twice. This provocative novel uses a fictional business and community to highlight real-world issues about the challenges leaders face in ensuring they have the talent they need for the future.
Today's Emphasis
In 2013, Elane and Rick shifted the emphasis of Raising Families toward greater focus on families and parents. From the time a child is born, parents have the most impact on the values, beliefs, and capabilities of their children.
It was this perspective that led them to focus on supporting parents with knowledge, insight, and coaching and led them to create and deliver the course Leading Your Child to Success. It’s been delivered in many classrooms and is now available online so that parents and grandparents can take the course on their time schedule.
Who We’ve Worked With
America’s Promise
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Indian Science and Engineering Society
American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Anne Arundel County Public Schools
American Association of Community Colleges
Aviation Week
Business Higher Education Forum
Children First
Digital Promise
Ernst & Young
Evergreen Valley College
Greater Waco Community
Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential
International Economic Development Council
J Paul Getty Foundation
LEGO
Los Angeles County Office of Education
MasterCard
NASA
National Endowment for the Arts
Orange County Business Council
Primanti Montessori School
Riverside County Department of Education
Ronald McDonald House
STEM Education Coalition
Taco Bell
The Boeing Company
United Arab Emirates Higher Education Forum
University of Lille, France
Vermillion Advantage
White House Initiative on American Indian and Alaska Natives
Publications
- Accelerating STEM Capacity: A Complex Adaptive System, 2013, Rick Stephens and Mike Richey
- A Business View of Education, 2013, Rick Stephens and Mike Richey
- The System: Igniting the Soul of Commerce, 3rd Edition, 2009, Elane V. Scott and Rick Stephens
- Ensuring Workforce Skills of the Future, 2004, Elane V. Scott and Rick Stephens
- Family Wisdom, 1997, Glenn Knape and Elane V. Scott
- The Cocooning Handbook, 1983, April Heath Pastis and Elane V. Scott
Interviews
- CNN
- Wall Street Journal
- The Armstrong Williams Show, and other television and radio programs
Make the Most of Your Time
Mindset Training for Parents
Take a big-picture look at what it takes to stop micromanaging your family and be at peace with your new role as a family leader.
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