While summer begins to wind down and the temperature cools off, our conference plenary speakers are bringing the heat to our annual conference in Atlanta this September. The lineup starts on Monday morning with a warm welcome from our CEO and Board Chair,
followed by a plenary in which we’ll present the Bob Craves Champion of College Access Award. This year’s prestigious recipient and award-winning author, Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum will be joined by Achieve Atlanta’s Executive Director, Tina Fernandez, in an intimate fireside chat. Dr. Tatum has been a key leader in advancing higher education opportunities in the Atlanta area and beyond; serving on the governing boards of
Achieve Atlanta and Morehouse College, and more recently being named interim president of Mount Holyoke College. Having authored books about race, including Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria? and Can We Talk About Race,
Dr. Tatum is an expert on racial identity development theory and the implications of racial segregation in schools.
On Tuesday, we’ll pivot to hear from Mr. Richard Cordray, current chief operating officer of the Federal Student Aid (FSA) office of the US Department of Education. With all the critical
changes happening in federal student aid policy, including FAFSA simplification, expanding Pell Grant eligibility to incarcerated students, and changes and key decisions on loan forgiveness, this plenary is a crucial part of the conversation to advancing
students’ rights to postsecondary attainment. COO Cordray’s role and commitment to consumers and families is essential to ensuring students are not priced out of college.
Rounding out Tuesday’s plenary sessions are NCAN’s member-led Lightning Talk speakers. The electrifying lineup of these three 15-minute talks come from leaders in the field who distinctly understand the challenges our student
populations encounter when navigating postsecondary education. As a servant and visionary leader, John Branam — executive director of Get Schooled, an all-digital national non-profit
organization — brings his relentless commitment to Black and Brown students that is undeniably shaped by his lived experience as a Black male. Candy Marshall, president of TheDream.US — the nation’s largest college and career success program for undocumented students — shares her lifelong commitment to education and health equity for younger generations. As a philanthropic leader in the Pacific Northwest with a former law career,
Candy brings a unique lens to this discussion about students’ rights. Finishing up this plenary hour, vice president of Florida Student Success Initiatives for the Helios Education Foundation,
Braulio Colón is a strategic leader who identifies partnership opportunities and facilitates relationships to increase student success in Florida. Braulio will light up the stage recognizing that while some people are “born with rights
to land and capital and [are further] surrounded by individuals with deep economic and financial knowledge, others are born with none.
Finally, you won’t want to miss Wednesday’s closing plenary that will elevate our very own NCAN-member served students’ voices on the real-life implications of federal, state, and institutional aid programs. Open Campus Media’s National Higher Education Reporter, Naomi Harris — who investigates and reports the latest happenings at the intersection of race and higher education — brings it full circle to talk about advancing
access to financial aid. What will it take for today’s students to get the financial support they need to persist in college? Joining Ms. Harris to explore potential solutions with those directly impacted are student panelists Morgan Forbes of
Achieve Atlanta, Kaila Pouncy of Alabama Possible, and Zenani Johnson of the Florida College Access Network.
We can’t wait to see you in Hotlanta in just a few weeks!
Email to a Friend
