On October 10, 2024, the Illinois Community College Diversity Commission (ICCDC) proudly hosted the state’s inaugural Equity Summit, which focused exclusively on community colleges. Designed and developed by Dr. Purva DeVol, president of ICCDC, the event marked a pivotal step forward in advancing inclusive excellence across Illinois' 48 community colleges.
Held at Harper College, this was the first summit in Illinois intentionally centered on topics surrounding the Illinois Equity Plan, which is required for every community college in the state. Supported by ICCDC leadership, DeVol created this event to unite college leaders, faculty and staff around a shared commitment to equity in student outcomes and institutional practice.
With the support of Dr. Avis Proctor, president of Harper College, the Equity Summit convened 150 faculty, staff and administrators from 34 of Illinois’ 48 community colleges. Participants engaged in a full day of learning, dialogue and actionable strategy development.
The summit featured a distinguished lineup of speakers from varied organizations and addressed topics such as culturally responsive pedagogy, overcoming resistance to equity work, leveraging artificial intelligence to support students, interpreting equity data and sustaining transformative practices statewide. Below are the speakers and their topics.
- Jennifer Foster (pictured above), deputy executive director and chief diversity officer at the Illinois Community College Board (ICCB), delivered the opening keynote on the importance of equity plans statewide.
- Lorenzo D. Baber, director of the Office of Community College Research and Leadership, led a session on culturally responsive pedagogy.
- Candice Dowd Maxwell, associate vice president of diversity, equity, belonging and inclusion at McHenry County College, shared tools and strategies for sustainable equity implementation.
- Anthony Ramos, vice president of talent and culture at Waubonsee Community College, discussed navigating resistance while advancing equity efforts.
- James Reed Jr., executive director at the Illinois Community College Trustees Association, spoke about empowering boards and presidents to lead equity initiatives.
- Jesse Ivory (Oakton College), Dawn Koeltzow (Illinois Central College), Vance Laine (Heartland Community College) and Candace D. Silas (Lincoln Land Community College) shared their lessons learned from the Workforce Equity Initiative.
- Nour Al Naber and Chadd Engel, both of Waubonsee Community College, explored how AI tools such as ChatGPT can support equitable student outcomes.
- Lisa Castillo Richmond, Mike Abrahamson and Giselle Palacios, all from the Partnership for College Completion, presented research on advancing equity in access and completion.
- Brian Durham, executive director of ICCB, hosted a leadership session for college presidents on elevating institutional equity efforts.
- Jay Brooks, associate deputy director for research and analytics at ICCB, closed the event with practical strategies for using data to strengthen equity plans.
The Equity Summit served as an important forum for collaboration, learning and collective action to strengthen equity initiatives statewide. As DeVol reminded attendees, “Equity isn’t the work of a few—it’s a shared commitment that drives us all. It’s not a moment; it’s a movement.”
The first-ever Equity Summit stands as a significant milestone for Illinois’ community colleges. By bringing together leaders, faculty and staff from across the state, the event fostered collaboration, highlighted innovative practices and advanced the shared goal of equitable student outcomes. The ICCDC and Dr. DeVol played a central role in creating and leading this first-of-its-kind gathering, demonstrating a strong commitment to advancing equity work statewide.