(upbeat music) - We are honored to be joined by our good friend, Regina Egea, who is Founder and Board Chair at Garden State Initiative, one of our longtime partners, and also Bret Silver, Vice President for University Advancement and External Relations at Drew University, a great institution of higher learning.

Regina and Bret, great to see you.

- Nice to see you.

- Thanks for having us this morning.

- You got it, Regina, We had this conversation about our great friend and mentor, extraordinary leader, Tom Kean, former governor, Tom Kean.

There is a donation that Garden State Initiative, a $50,000 that your organization has made to Drew University in honor of Governor Kean for specifically what?

Because it has to do with a great Governor's School that's been going on for a while.

Go ahead.

- Exactly, the Governor's School in the Sciences at Drew University, which I know Bret will speak about.

But we were able to make that donation because we have established this award in Governor Kean's honor that you mentioned.

And he continues to be the most popular governor in the history, recorded history anyway, of New Jersey.

And it really is to not just honor all of his contributions as an incredible leader in public service as well as the private sector, his personal characteristics of integrity and honor, as well as his commitment to public service.

And one of the main goals that we have is that this isn't just a quaint notion that these are the qualities of leaders that he was successful with, but that's something that makes government work best.

And that's really what we're trying to recognize and remind everyone that there are he and others who perform like him are able to contribute to the State of New Jersey and we want to honor that.

- Absolutely.

And Governor Kean, also the former president at Drew University, leader in education for decades in this state and this nation.

Bret, pick it up from there.

Talk about how these dollars, these $50,000 grant from Garden State Initiative will be used to impact and benefit students who are looking to go into STEM, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, and its connection to leadership.

Please, Bret.

- Well, first of all, we're extremely grateful to have received this gift, and it's extra special to be in the name of Governor Kean, who lives on very large here at the Drew community with our alums and with everybody who's part of Drew.

The beauty of the Governor's School is that it's tuition-free.

Students from high schools all over the state are nominated by their teachers, and they come together in community for several weeks for an in-dorm, together, in-person experience where everybody is on an equal playing field.

They form an incredible community among themselves.

Many of them walk out of here and say they felt for the first time that they could actually be a scientist.

They find their voice, they find their community, they find their peers.

They do incredible scientific research.

When I go to the post session every year, I have absolutely no idea what they're talking about.

They are so far advanced in the science.

And then they go out into the world and they go to research one universities, they go to community colleges, they form part of an important scientific community in higher education, and then they go off into the world and they do incredible things in STEM fields.

- I often try to understand the connection between technology, science, and leadership.

Artificial Intelligence, STEM, and leadership.

Am I off base here, Bret?

There's a connection- - No, not at all.

No, well, I mean, this is a burgeoning curricular field, right?

I mean, things are changing.

Things are changing as we speak.

And we at Drew are thinking about this at the higher ed level.

But we have to remember that students in high school who are digital natives in the way that people of our generation are not, and our faculty isn't necessarily, they come to this program with a different perspective on digital work, on AI work.

And so I think what it's fair to say that our faculty and the students who come have an interchange, they're learning from one another.

And we are also looking at, how does AI and how does technology intersect with the future workforce and what future leaders are going to need to know?

And what we're learning and we're seeing it every day is that we don't actually know, right?

We don't know for sure.

We can't dictate to the students exactly what they're going to take from these classes and go off into their work lives, which are still six, seven, eight years away.

But there's absolutely a connection between technology, education, leadership, and we hope that a lot of the students who come through here will be on the forefront of going out into the world and taking this knowledge and redefining what some of leadership and workforce looks like.

- Regina, I want to follow up on what Bret just said.

And you and I have had these offline conversations.

And by way of background, let folks know that you do have a background in government leadership positions, including?

Please share with folks.

- I was chief of staff to both Governor Christie as well as the Treasurer while I was in the State of New Jersey.

- In the work you're doing, how important is creating trust in government for these students?

- Well, the level of cynicism, I think, and as you say, distrust in many of the structures and the, not only just government, but I think in general, our societal structures- - In media, in higher ed, in all kinds of organizations.

- Exactly.

It's just extraordinarily high, I think.

My assessment is very high right now.

And one of the ways that we can help impact that as a policy organization is to bring credible both ideas and substantial research and hold up leaders like Governor Kean in terms of this has worked, can work, and will be important for going forward for those who want to go into both public, frankly, as well as the private sector.

And the only way one rebuilds that is consistency.

And I think one of the things that I always heard, at least while he was governing, you were there, but Bret speaks about it at Drew University, is he's very community building oriented, which means you have to get to know the people, you have to- - That's right.

- Talk to them as well as incorporate.

And he's a big, as you know, his book about "The Politics of Inclusion" is one of his fundamental principles.

And these are the things that I think people really will latch onto, and that's how you build trust.

- A giant.

Tom Kean is a giant, not just in government, in the State of New Jersey and in the country, but also in higher education and education overall.

So, this, to repeat, Garden State Initiative, one of our terrific partners, a grant of $50,000 to Drew University in honor of Governor Tom Kean to support the New Jersey Governor's School in the Sciences.

To you, Bret, to you, Regina, we thank you so much for joining us.

All the best, thank you, folks.

- Thank you very much.

- Thanks, Steve.

- You got it.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by The Fidelco Group.

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Learn More at RWJBH.org.

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And by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Promotional support provided by The Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey.

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