The Principal Impact Collaborative, housed in the UNT Dallas President's Office, started the new year with big news: a $50,000 grant from the Cotton Bowl Foundation, plus a matching grant from The College Football Playoff Foundation.

PIC was one of six local organizations that "foster educational growth while making a sustaining impact on youth" to receive the grants. The award was announced during last week's Goodyear Big Play Luncheon prior to the Cotton Bowl game which featured Penn State against Memphis. 

"We greatly appreciate the support of the Cotton Bowl Foundation, as it allows UNT Dallas to further build our investment in the Principal Impact Collaborative," President Bob Mong said. "At UNT Dallas, we believe that differentiation plus relevancy equals value. One without the other is useless. PIC is a program that allows us to differentiate learning opportunities while providing relevant and high-quality professional development to our local school leaders."

PIC is a two-year fellowship program that so far has afforded 50 principals in the North Texas area to incubate and execute a "big idea" action project to drive impact on their campus. The program also helps principals develop greater leadership skills that support idea development, effective project management and sustained impact, all while giving participants a unique opportunity to network and share best practices with like-minded peers.

“The Cotton Bowl Foundation allows the Principal Impact Collaborative to continue our rapid growth to serve amazing school leaders across DFW," PIC Program Director Alejandra Barbosa said. "The principals we work with are some of the most selfless, talented and persistent leaders we know. They are the rock of their campuses, defining what excellence means and leading their staff to ensure all our children reach their highest potential. When they come to PIC, the principals have a trusted place to learn and grow with like-minded peers so that they can better lead the campuses they serve. Every neighborhood and school deserves a strong leader, and we are proud to be supporting those principals. Thank you to the Cotton Bowl Foundation for also investing in these leaders.”