It’s been quite a year, folks! As excited as we are for 2014 (we’ve got some epic plans…), we also can’t help but reminisce on all the amazing, awesome things that happened in 2013. Our city got fitter, our staff got larger, our community got smarter, we celebrated the awesome and had dance parties as often as possible (at least in our office we did). We decided to take a look back and say another “hooray!” for all the awesome things from 2013. Here’s our Top 20 of 2013, (random order, of course). Enjoy!

20. 

SA2020 Resolutions 2013! So many of you resolved to make a difference in the new year, it rocked all of our socks off. It was so amazing, we might just do it again this year…

19.

San Antonio ranked 6th in the nation for Brain Gain! San Antonio has the sixth highest in-migration of college-educated adults age 25-39, according to a report that came out in March 2013. Just further proof that we are a City On the Rise! Check out the full report here.

18.

In March 2013, JeanneRussell officially joined the SA2020 team! (Yes, her name absolutely must be said as one word.)

17. 

Destination College – College Week 2013! 17 partners came together and more than 2,000 students participated in a week dedicated to higher#education. College Week is back April 27 – May 3, 2014!  www.iknowwhereimgoing.com

16. 

In January of 2013, long-time SA2020 staff member Ryan Kuhl officially joined the team full-time as the Chief of Operations! We happen to think he’s the Kuhl-est (sorry, not sorry about that pun).

15.

Trinity Mellon Fellows! In the summer of 2013, we placed six graduates and one undergraduate from Trinity University with SA2020 Lead Partners to work directly on SA2020 indicators. We’re proud to say that, not only did they all find jobs upon completion of the fellowship, but Kanika, Hannah, and Nicole are still working on SA2020 goals! They rock, more than a little bit.

We like to brag on them, so you can read more here.

14.

I Am SA2020 Blog launched! In May of this year, we started a blog to share your stories – how you as a community are making the city better. Since May, we have published 37 blogs from 28 different authors!

Check out their stories – and send us yours!

13.

In January of 2013, SA2020 Ninja and all-around office wizard Anna Brackett also officially joined the team full-time! (Another a top-notch moment of 2013: Anna got married! Congrats again, Anna!)

12.

San Antonio’s 1st Report Card! On June 4th, 2013, we released the first SA2020 data report. We celebrated success, discussed strategy, updated the SA2020 indicators, and moved forward with fresh inspiration to affect the future of our city!

11.

As a city, we exceeded our goal of 85% high school graduation, and saw an overall increase in college enrollment! What an awesome reason to set even more ambitious goals.

10.

In July, we found out that the adult obesity rate in San Antonio and Bexar County dropped from 35.1% to 28.% from 2010 to 2012! This puts San Antonio BELOW the state average. We are clearly a community that cares about health and fitness.

9.

In June, SA2020 Champion Coca-Cola gave $1.5 million in grants through The Coca-Cola Foundation to San Antonio Sports and the San Antonio Food Bank to invest in #HealthandFitness in San Antonio! Read more about that here if you’re curious.

8.

TheMollyCox, official fancy-pants and veteran of SA2020, joined the staff full-time in March of 2013! Around that time, she also began to photobomb ALL the pictures. Seriously, she’s everywhere.

7.

Another huge success of 2013 – police and fire emergency response times already beat our #SA2020 goals! Because of the dedication of theSan Antonio Police Department and the San Antonio Fire Department, we can set even more ambitious goals for the safety of our community!

6.

Our very first class of SA2020 Ambassadors was trained and deployed in August 2013! Since then, they’ve volunteered, educated, blogged, and represented SA2020 all over the place! They are sortof amazing.

5.

In November of 2013, once-Intern-Extraordinaire Claire Osburn joined the team full-time as the Digital Outreach Coordinator! Hooray!

4.

In December we celebrated the fact that teen births in Bexar County dropped 16.5 percent from 2010 to 2012! Another reason to set a higher target, because we are a #CityontheRise. #Top20of2013

Check out NOWCast SA‘s stream of the announcement here.

3.

Due to the strength of collaborative partnerships like Diplomás, San Antonio secured 1 of 20 nationwide Lumina Foundation grants for $200,000 for higher education, to help turn San Antonio into the Brainpower Community it’s becoming.

2.

After a successful run at UTSA – The University of Texas at San Antonio, we made a move to Geekdom. We’ve held events, played ping pong, and even joined a kickball team. More importantly, we now are positive that geeks help change the world!

1.

In 2013, over 800 of you created profiles on www.sa2020.org. That’s 800 NEW people making sure that our #SA2020 goals are met. That brings us up to nearly 2,000 profiles! Because of you and our many nonprofit partners, we are able to connect the community for a stronger San Antonio. YOU make the difference.

So in conclusion…