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Advance CTE Fall Meeting Fellowship Panel Illuminates Impact of Structures to Cultivate Diverse Leadership Pipelines

Thursday, October 26th, 2023

During Advance CTE’s 2023 Fall Meeting, four members of the second cohort of the 15-month Postsecondary State Career Technical Education Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE – Sponsored by ECMC Foundation participated in a panel discussion to share their experiences and knowledge gained from the Fellowship, as well how state Career Technical Education (CTE) leaders can remove barriers for diverse aspiring postsecondary leaders.

Jomarie Coloriano – Inclusive Excellence, Director | Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Wisconsin

Dr. Crystal Gardner – Program Director | Workforce Instruction, Workforce Research and Development | Houston Community College, Texas

Dr. Angela Lawhorne – Director of Career Education Programs & Workforce Partnerships | Virginia Community College System, Virginia

Caleb Perriton – Program Director | Trades and Technical Studies | Laramie County Community College, Wyoming

Fellows shared their reasons for applying to the Fellowship, which ranged from seeking out leadership opportunities to advance at their current institution to being forwarded the application by a colleague or a supervisor who believed and supported their leadership aspirations. A common theme shared by each was the desire to address a specific concern related to policy and processes within postsecondary Career Technical Education (CTE). The application for the Fellowship included a question on future goals and a challenge related to equity and a population of learners applicants wanted to research and develop an intervention for while completing the Fellowship. The Fellows pointed to the intentionality of explicitly requiring applicants to reflect on and consider CTE leadership opportunities and the inclusion of an equity-based real-world project made the decision to apply an easy choice.

Fellows were also asked to share the key event or events that reinforced their decision to apply to the Fellowship, in other words – when they knew they made the right decision. Dr. Gardner shared that in CTE she rarely has an opportunity to work with or collaborate with other leaders of color across the nation and view the entire landscape of leadership possibilities in postsecondary CTE. The Fellowship offered an opportunity to build a network consisting of her peers, guest speakers invited to the Fellowship workshop and most importantly her coach whom she felt she was perfectly matched with based on their commonalities and interests. She recognized the level of thought the Advance CTE staff dedicated to finding the right mentor for each of the Fellows. Caleb discussed being paired with a postsecondary administrator with an automotive background and how the monthly coaching meetings inspired him to begin seeking the director position he currently holds at his institution.

Each of the Fellows discussed the impact of their real-world project and the effect of completing the project has had on their current work and aspirations to continue climbing the postsecondary CTE leadership ladder. Dr Lawhorne’s project focused on improving access to justice-involved learners in Virginia and the state’s current efforts to expand, through the community college system, access to high-quality CTE programming. In the process of completing her project, an award of $70,000 was granted to support the project which allowed for the inclusion of other correctional facilities in the intervention strategy being implemented at a few select sites in the state.

As part of Jomarie Coloriano’s project research on providing information on and access to wrap-around services for economically disadvantaged learners in her region of the Wisconsin Technical College System, she conducted a focus group which led to the identification of learner needs. This work led to an advancement to director as she continues to complete her doctoral program and the continuation of her research on increasing the postsecondary outcomes of economically disadvantaged learners. Jomarie shared during the panel discussion, “my mentor has really pushed me as a college student, first generation professional, now a doctoral student and pioneer for my family.”

This panel allowed CTE leaders to see the impact and influence of leadership development programs. Caleb shared with the state leaders that “there’s work that needs to be done in your state, and this Fellowship was the catalyst to complete a project that was needed in my community.” State and local CTE leaders can use Advance CTE’s new Building a Diverse CTE Leadership Pipeline Toolkit, to assess and build leadership development structures in their own institutions. The resource includes an overview of lessons learned from the Fellowship as well as a guidebook and accompanying workbook to assess and build leadership development structures.

Dr. Kevin Johnson, Senior Advisor

By Layla Alagic in Advance CTE Fall Meeting
Tags: Access and Equity, community college, CTE Fall Meeting, ECMCF Fellows, Justice-involved learners, leadership, Leadership Pipeline, postsecondary cte, PSCTE Fellowship, texas, Virginia, wisconsin, Wyoming

Nick Rodriguez Keynote at Spring State Leadership Retreat Highlights Five Lessons in Leadership

Friday, May 27th, 2022

After what can only be described as two of the most turbulent years in recent memory, Advance CTE was finally able to reconvene this month in Baltimore, Maryland to host a Spring State Leadership Retreat. The event welcomed 64 participants representing 37 states, in roles ranging from state CTE directors to workforce and education leaders.

The Retreat’s keynote was presented by Nick Rodriguez, CEO of Delivery Associates, a leader in systems transformation whose work has helped both government and industry organizations to become efficient and equitable change makers.

Attendees listened attentively as Nick presented his Inspired Leadership General Session, “Seizing the Moment: Leadership & Opportunity in Uncertain Times.” He acknowledged the challenging times we still find ourselves in, but also underscored the importance of how attendees can leverage their roles, voices, and leadership to advance our shared commitments to quality and equity as articulated in CTE Without Limits.

Nick shared “Five Lessons in Leadership” as a framework to guide leaders through times of crisis, like the ones we are living in today:

He walked participants through each of these principles by recalling recent anecdotes and lessons from his work abroad, from Pakistan to New Zealand. The theme was always the same: with adversity comes opportunity.

Following the keynote presentation, attendees strengthened connections with peers and deepened knowledge on solutions to pursue systemic change and effectively support state teams. Attendees enjoyed speed networking, shared solutions ideation, a panel on state implementation of the CTE Without Limits vision and regional get-to-know-you meetings.

Register by June 2 to join Advance CTE’s next virtual professional development opportunity — the EQUIP, EMPOWER, ELEVATE: Virtual June Meeting Series.

Three events over three hours with dynamic keynote speakers and content-rich breakouts will be held June 8, 15, and 22 from 2 to 5 p.m. ET.

Amy Hodge, Policy Associate

By Stacy Whitehouse in Uncategorized
Tags: June Meeting Series, leadership

CTE Without Limits Spotlight: Panel Highlights Leadership Priorities for Vision Implementation

Wednesday, May 25th, 2022

On Friday, May 13, attendees at Advance CTE’s Spring State Leadership Retreat heard from three State CTE Directors participating in Advance CTE’s state cohort to begin implementation of Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education (CTE Without Limits). Moderated by Advance CTE Senior Advisor Nithya Govindasamy, panelists shared how CTE Without Limits has inspired meaningful cross-sector conversations, and key leadership lessons to build trust, center learners and sustain partnerships.

Background

The panel consisted of three state directors: Sarah Heath of Colorado, Katie Graham of Nebraska and Maria Swygert of South Carolina. At the start of the panel, each leader provided a brief overview of the focus of their initial vision implementation work.

Colorado’s focus is Principle 2: Each learner feels welcome in, is supported by, and has the means to succeed in the career preparation ecosystem to empower state and local leaders to have knowledgeable and meaningful conversations about equity gaps in data. Heath shared “we saw the work isn’t working,” that too many leaders could interpret the data but didn’t feel empowered to discuss and act on it. Through participation in the cohort, Colorado strives to build will and support for change through a statewide equity action plan with a focus on expanding equity-focused professional development opportunities for state and local CTE leaders.

Nebraska’s focus is advancing Principle 3: Each learner skillfully navigates their own career journey with a focus on learners with disabilities. State CTE staff will partner with special education and vocational rehabilitation services agencies to scale strong existing state collaboration to the local level. This includes alignment of policy, communications and professional development initiatives.

South Carolina’s focus is Principle 1: Each learner engages in a cohesive, flexible, and responsive career preparation ecosystem to achieve ‘next-level collaboration’ through more uniform processes and local support for conducting the Comprehensive Local Needs Assessment (CLNA) process. This will be accomplished through an assessment survey to each of their twelve cross-sector regional teams consisting of secondary, postsecondary and workforce leaders, as well as a state-level meeting to create an action plan based on survey results.

Building and Sustaining Meaningful Cross-Sector Partnerships

Each leader shared strategies they found to be effective in building and sustaining meaningful cross-sector partnerships. State Director Katie Graham emphasized the importance of cultivating personal relationships with leaders before you need them for project work. She shared that her choice to focus on learners with disabilities was inspired in part by her strong personal relationships with state staff connected to special education and vocational rehabilitation that simply started with conversations about their work years ago, rather than a specific request to share funding or resources.

State Director Sarah Heath elevated that building partnerships requires several steps, and should not begin with an ask for shared funding. Using a “gather, train, then share” approach, Colorado began their partnerships by finding shared goals and planning meetings and initiatives together. This was followed by providing mutual support on logistics and information, including conversations on common definitions, data collection and use, and data metrics to find common ground.

The directors also highlighted the importance of establishing intentional strategies that build trust and provide information that reinforces shared goals. State Director Maria Swygert shared that each quarter her office compiles a two-page report connecting the latest employment, graduation, placement and other key data points. This tool is shared with more than 70 partners statewide to reinforce the shared goal of improving learner and workforce outcomes. Graham shared that the growth of her partnership with those serving learners with disabilities resulted in a meeting where 19 needs assessment plans, including the CLNA, were streamlined to reduce the burden on local leaders and make connections among the data being collected.

Leadership Lessons Learned

Each leader was asked to share leadership lessons learned as a result of this work to build and sustain meaningful, learner-centered partnerships. Acknowledging and addressing capacity issues rose to the forefront. For states that may view the vision as yet another item for their to-do list, Heath emphasized that CTE Without Limits should not be seen as a separate approach, but rather a ‘value-add’ that takes the intent and goals of existing strategic plans, state vision statements, and other planning document to the next level and keeps learner needs at the center of all conversations.

Heath also shared that vision implementation work made her more comfortable with learning to let go of work, even though it may be important, that did not specifically advance learner needs or their state strategic plan. Swygert shared that the relationship-building conducted through this cohort allowed her to feel more comfortable not doing all the work alone and trusting the expertise and leadership of other state staff serving learners, including those not directly involved in CTE.

Each leader emphasized the value of vulnerability, transparency and honesty, especially in the early stages of relationship building with other state leaders, so that no damaging assumptions are made. Heath shared her mindset of “we all have room to grow in the work, and we want to grow together.” Graham shared a conversation she had with a state leader where she was only seeking to learn more about their role, but the latter assumed they were seeking funding instead of a meaningful partnership. So additional time was needed to build the trust to share the desired information.

Additional Resources

The CTE Without Limits cohort will receive funding, individual coaching and intensive technical support from Advance CTE through October 2022. An additional CTE Without Limits Community of Practice is open for state leaders to participate in bimonthly cross-state calls to share challenges and solutions aligned to the five vision principles. Sixteen states are currently participating — those interested in joining can contact Senior Policy Associate Hinderliter at [email protected].

For additional conversations with state and national leaders on advancing CTE Without Limits, visit Advance CTE’s webinars page for recordings of a spring virtual learning series aligned to each of the vision’s five principles.

Visit Advance CTE’s vision page for awareness and implementation resources, including its step-by-step assessment and action planning guide, Pushing the Limits: A Roadmap for Advancing CTE Without Limits that will be the basis for Advance CTE’s state cohort work.

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate Communications and State Engagement

By Stacy Whitehouse in CTE Without Limits
Tags: Access and Equity, Colorado, CTE Without Limits, leadership, Nebraska, Sector Partnerships, South Carolina, students with disabilities, systems alignment

Initiative Q&A: The Postsecondary State Career Technical Education (CTE) Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE—Sponsored by ECMC Foundation

Tuesday, November 16th, 2021

Last week, Advance CTE and ECMC Foundation announced the 15 Fellows joining the inaugural cohort of The Postsecondary State Career Technical Education (CTE) Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE—Sponsored by ECMC Foundation that began this month. These aspiring leaders hail from 12 states, include 13 leaders of color, and represent multiple dimensions of equity as well as secondary and postsecondary institutions at the local, district and state level.

The Fellowship strives to address the growing shortage of state postsecondary CTE leadership by closing racial representation gaps and removing equity barriers to leadership advancement to continue to foster high-quality, equitable state postsecondary CTE systems that support the needs of each learner.

The following Q&A with Senior Advisor Dr. Kevin Johnson, Sr. provides additional insight on the structure and goals of the Fellowship as well as how the initiative will benefit members.

Expanding CTE instructor and leadership pipelines is one of the most pressing issues facing the field. Why did Advance CTE decide to focus on state postsecondary CTE leadership?

Postsecondary learners face more barriers than ever to accessing and completing postsecondary education. At the same time, historically marginalized learners, particular black and Latinx learners and learners experiencing low income, are still experiencing disproportionate impacts from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. There is an urgent need for diverse, equity-minded leaders in state CTE who reflect the experiences and needs of learners, and are equipped with the skills and networks to improve learner outcomes through systems transformation. Advance CTE’s deep experience supporting state CTE leaders and our commitment to innovation to advance high-quality, equitable CTE is a great intersection to step into a new space to not only empower today’s leaders but cultivate the leaders of the future.

States are facing a severe CTE instructor shortage and often don’t have the capacity to focus on cultivating the state leadership pipeline. This Fellowships strives to enhance leadership representation across multiple dimensions of equity, with a particular focus on racial equity, while also cultivating an equity-focused leadership mindset to enhance learner access and outcomes in postsecondary CTE programs.

What are the biggest barriers to leadership advancement for professionals historically marginalized from these opportunities, and how does this Fellowship aim to remove these barriers?

The same systemic barriers facing learners in reaching their full career potential also exist in our state CTE systems that prevent historically marginalized professionals from reaching their full leadership potential. We are encouraged that State Directors are willing to conduct the difficult but critical work to remove those barriers, and this Fellowship can serve as a learning model.

Many leadership position requirements still value level of education over skills and experience, particularly experiences gained through industry or positions outside of the education system. Additionally, because historically marginalized leaders, particularly those of color, are less likely to see themselves in leadership positions, they face more barriers to developing meaningful and trusting professional relationships or feeling welcome and psychologically safe in networks that are critical to leadership advancement. Furthermore, in rural and smaller geographic areas, professional and leadership development opportunities may be limited at the state level. Advance CTE has the national resources and network to fill that need.

The Postsecondary State Career Technical Education (CTE) Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE—Sponsored by ECMC Foundation strives to remove barriers to leadership advancement through an intensive, interactive curriculum; intentional spaces to develop networks with Fellows and national CTE leaders; individual coaching to strengthen knowledge on both equity and postsecondary CTE; and a real-world fellowship project that allows each Fellow to remove equity barriers right where they live and work.

What promising practices do you hope to gain from this initiative that can be shared with states?

This Fellowship is just one building block for a much stronger and permanent foundation that must be built to identify and cultivate state leadership talent from a variety of CTE-focused professions. We hope to identify the supports that aspiring leaders need most for leadership that they are not currently receiving in their home states, and empower states to implement those supports in their professional development programs. There will be two cohorts of 15 fellows served through this Fellowship, and we have already gained valuable lessons learned on effective communication tools, outreach and other components of program recruitment that will be shared with members. Finally, we will gain significant knowledge on building and managing spaces of mentors and mentees to build meaningful relationships among groups historically marginalized from leadership advancement.

I know the Fellowship has just begun, but what excites you most about this group of Fellows so far?

The first workshop for this cohort was held last week. I am most excited about our Fellows’ enthusiasm for learning not only from Advance CTE staff and their coaches, but from each other. Each Fellow brings a rich diversity of professional and personal experience from industry, secondary and postsecondary institutions, workforce and state institutions that is so important to help these aspiring leaders develop a well-rounded understanding of how systems interact, as well as how to remove silos to ensure each learner has the means to achieve success in the career of their choice without limits.

How can state leaders participate in future cohorts?

It is not too early for professionals with extensive experience in delivering or supporting postsecondary CTE programs to consider applying for our second Fellowship cohort.

Applications will open in Spring 2022, and the next cohort will begin in Summer 2022.

Additional details about the Fellowship, including profiles for each Advance CTE-ECMCF Fellow can be found on Advance CTE’s Fellowship web page. If you are not an Advance CTE member, sign up to receive our CTEWorks newsletter to stay informed on key program dates. Visit the Learning that Works Resource Center for additional resources on access and equity and instructor and leader quality.

Stacy Whitehouse, Senior Associate Communications and State Engagement

By Stacy Whitehouse in Uncategorized
Tags: Access and Equity, ECMCF, leadership, postsecondary, professional development; mentoring

Legislative Update: Appropriations, Leadership Selections, Child Nutrition

Friday, December 10th, 2010

House Passes Continuing Resolution, Senate Expected to Vote on Omnibus

On Wednesday night, the House passed a year-long continuing resolution (CR) by a vote of 212-206 that would fund all government programs at last yearâ€™s levels until the end of the fiscal year (September 30, 2011). All Republican members voted â€œno,â€ along with 37 Democrats. The plan had been for the Senate to present an omnibus appropriations bill as a substitute for the House continuing resolution. If the Senate were to get the 60 votes necessary for cloture, the bill will be sent back to the House for consideration.Â The omnibus bill would contain about $19 billion more in funding than the House CR and would contain congressional earmarks. However, it appears the Senate will not vote on this until next week.

House Select Committee Leadership

The House Republicans and Democrats on Tuesday announced new chairmen and ranking members for the slate of House committees for the 112^th Congress. The chairman of the House Appropriations Committee will be Hal Rogers (R-KY), while Norm Dicks (D-WA) will serve as ranking member. As expected, John Kline (R-MN) will chair the House Education and Labor Committee and George Miller (D-CA) will be ranking member.

Child Nutrition Bill Passes Congress

Last week the House passed the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which passed the Senate in August, and it now heads to the President for his signature. The goal of the bill is to improve childrenâ€™s health and reduce childhood obesity nationwide by requiring school meals to meet new nutrition standards. The bill also gives the federal government the authority to apply nutritional standards to all food sold during the school day, including in vending machines, a la carte lines and other venues. There has been some concern that the new standards could impact CTE programs that sell student prepared food to raise money for their programs, but the bill does allow for an exemption for school-sponsored fundraisers that are approved by the school and are infrequent within the school.

By admin in Legislation
Tags: appropriations, budget, Congress, funding, leadership

Register Now for the 2010 NASDCTEc Fall Meeting

Friday, July 30th, 2010

NASDCTEc is excited to offer our Fall Meeting based on the theme Leading to Transform: Taking Us to Where We Should Be. CTE State Directors have asked for more professional development, and this meeting will provide engaging activities geared to enrich and strengthen leadership skills ofÂ attendees. The Fall Meeting offers great opportunities for networking with colleagues and partners in the economic development, workforce development and education improvement communities. Full details are at www.careertech.org.

Where: The Fall Meeting will be at the Westin BWI Airport Hotel, 1110 Old Elkridge Landing Road, in Linthicum, MD 21090 Â Â Â 443-577-2300Â Â map

Dates of meeting: October 25â€”October 27, 2010. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Monday, October 25 with an opening dinner session and meeting. The meeting will end at 1 p.m. Wednesday, October 27, after the closing luncheon. Online registration is open now.

Hotel accommodations: room rates are $120 per night plus applicable taxes. Please make your room reservations two ways: at the special State Directors reservations site; or you can call 866-225-0511 and ask for the â€˜State Directors Rateâ€™. Please note that the special priced group room reservation deadline is October 8, 2010. There are limited rooms available pre-and post-meeting. We hope to see you there!

By admin in Advance CTE Announcements, Meetings and Events
Tags: leadership

The Love of Learning, Joy and Meaningful Work

Thursday, April 22nd, 2010

Joy – to â€œfill with ecstatic happiness, pleasure, or satisfaction.â€ freedictionary.com

Is this a word you associate your work? How many students do you think characterize their experiences in the classroom as joyful? Yesterday, I had the great fortune of hearing Malcolm Gladwell speak at Appleâ€™s Education Leadership Summit. He spoke about the necessity of creating the conditions under which students and workers can produce meaningful work. What constitutes meaningful work and why is it important?

Gladwell argues meaningful work isâ€œone of the most important things we can impart to children.â€ Meaningful work requires curiosity and a love of learning. It requires driven passion that is derived from the sheer enjoyment of doing work you love, work you believe has meaning and work you believe has impact. Gladwell shared three necessary conditions for meaningful work to exist:

1. Autonomy â€“Meaningful work is work that is autonomous. Autonomy, while often characterized as independence, is really about empowerment. Empowerment to be in charge of your own destiny and to make decisions.

2. Complexity â€“ Meaningful work is complex. People are motivated by work that is challenging, brain-stretching and hard-to-solve. The process of finding a solution to a complex challenge involves accessing information and partnering with others; it means trying and failing and having the persistence and passion to push forward and try again. Gladwell framed it as work that is â€œbeautifully difficult.â€ What a powerful description!

3. Connectedness between effort and reward â€“ Meaningful work requires there to be a relationship between effort and reward. People are motivated by daily progress and movement toward a goal. Getting up each morning and knowing you have another shot at the challenges that face you is exhilarating to those who have meaningful work. The connectedness between effort and reward encourages curiosity and experimentation. One who has meaningful work chases ideas with enthusiasm and seeks out new challenges.

In summary, meaningful work = motivated, dedicated, happy (joyful) employees who are reliable, innovative and successful.

I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to do meaningful work each and every day. Do you? As leaders, what can you do to create an environment that promotes meaningful work?

By admin in Research
Tags: leadership, meaningful work, vision

Posts Tagged ‘leadership’