Ian Rowe Lives His Christian Faith While Creating Educational Freedom
In a Community Chapel message titled “Leveraging Our Christian Influence to Promote Agency as a Pathway to Human Flourishing,” author Ian Rowe shared research insights on institutions that can positively impact a child’s upward mobility in the United States and corresponding opportunities to empower individuals toward making decisions that result in human flourishing. Rowe, a public charter school co-founder and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who maintains an unwavering belief in the American dream, desires to replace societal scripts that diminish the courage and confidence of individuals regardless of their context with a new theme: personal agency.
“At a time when the institutions that drive human happiness seem to be crumbling, our collective Christian faith can make our lives a time to build and strengthen those institutions,” Rowe posited.
Rowe is the founder of Vertex Partnership Academies, an International Baccalaureate school that emphasizes character formation by teaching the virtues of courage, justice, temperance and wisdom. In addition to serving 10 years as CEO of Public Prep, he held leadership positions at Teach for America, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the White House and MTV. In his book “Agency,” Rowe seeks to inspire young people of all races to build strong families. In addition, he mentors undergraduate students who are committed to a future of Christ-centered cultural influence as a national fellow in the President’s Fellows program at Cornerstone University.
From his research on topics such as family formation, adoption, religion and education, Rowe cited the June 2014 study titled “Where is the Land of Opportunity? The Geography of International Mobility in the United States” by Raj Chetty, Nathaniel Hendren, Patrick Kline, and Emmanuel Saez. With a commitment to promoting upward mobility among more communities represented across the country, Rowe outlined the importance of four key pillars of human flourishing and the related moral characteristics or attitudes of each tenet:
- Family. Does an individual have a vision for their future family?
- Religion. Does an individual have a faith commitment?
- Education. Does an individual have educational options and freedom?
- Entrepreneurship. Does an individual identify as a problem solver?
“We are a redemptive humanity; indeed, the Biblical vision of human flourishing is redemptive,” Rowe said in closing. “God’s mission is to advance His kingdom and ultimately redeem the entire created order through the saving work of Jesus Christ. He calls all Christians to participate in His mission by using their gifts, their talents, and opportunities to draw the spiritually lost to the kingdom through gospel proclamation; to serve other people through acts of mercy and justice; and to glorify Him through everyday faithfulness in every sphere of life.”
Watch a video recording of the Community Chapel with Ian Rowe from February 21, 2024. To listen to more chapel messages and receive notifications of new teachings, follow Cornerstone University Chapel on Spotify and CornerstoneU on YouTube.