This year, KCKCC Board of Trustees members Dr. Ray Daniels, Dr. Janice McIntyre and Sheriff Don Ash, KCKCC Student Senate representative, Mr. Manny Paredes and I attended the summit held in Washington DC. The conference portion of the summit was filled with informative sessions discussing the complexity of the policy landscape faced by institutions across the country, and 
reminders that policy alone won’t fully address the growing needs of America’s community college students. Each of us need to be fully-engaged and involved in our students’ educational and co-curricular activities to provide them a support network that many do not have in their home/personal life.
As community college leaders across the country advocate for local and state policy that is structured in a manner to allow us to continue to be flexible, agile 
and responsive to the needs of our communities, the summit served as a good reminder that we all also need to advocate for policy at the national level that provides for increased student success! Key policy areas are Strengthening Pell Grants, Investing in Education and Workforce Development, Reauthorizing the Higher Education Act (HEA), and Supporting Dreamers (DACA). More in depth details are provided in the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT) Federal Legislative Priorities Document. https://www.acct.org/files/Advocacy/NLS/2019/Green%20sheet%20final.pdf#overlay-context=user
Several new resources were also presented on and provided, such as a new paper by ACCT that address how community colleges can support educational attainment among minority men in their communities. https://www.acct.org/product/continuing-progress-how-urban-community-colleges-are-improving-outcomes-minority-men-2019 and Federal Government Recognizes Food Insecurity on College Campuses and Calls for Better Access to Food Assistance Benefits. http://perspectives.acct.org/stories/federal-government-recognizes-food-insecurity-on-college-campuses-and-calls-for-better-access-to-food-assistance-benefits
Also, an important part of these summits is to have representatives from our 1,103 community colleges convene in D.C. and visit national legislators in full force to share stories about the 12 Million students we serve each year and to impress on the representatives the importance and magnitude of impact America’s Community Colleges have on our country.
During the trip and visits with our delegates, Manny did a excellent job 
representing KCKCC and sharing his own educational story. One of the highlights of the trip for him was meeting one-on-one with Representative Davids, which he received an invitation to apply for an internship as he also did from Senator Moran. He and I also had 
the opportunity to walk and see many of the Washington Memorials. #Blisters as next time i will take better walking shoes! A few additional photos from the trip are below.
When opportunities present themselves to speak with our local, state or national legislators be sure to tell our KCKCC story. It’s the experiences and successes you have with our students that have the greatest impact!
