I was not sure what to expect prior to the 2026 OCCRL Equity Academy. After all, it was my first time attending.

But as a research assistant at the Office of Community College Research and Leadership, I did know that the team would discuss past sessions and want to expand on them. In the back of my mind, I knew I wasn't there as an attendee of this year’s Equity Academy. I was going to play a part in influencing and building it.

As important as I knew this event was, I did not anticipate how much planning it would take to see things come to fruition. Until sitting in the beautiful Gregg Chadwick Community Board Room at Heartland Community College, where the day’s sessions took place, I did not fully appreciate how much intention goes into making the Equity Academy a seamless reality.

To prepare for this year’s event, we reviewed the evaluations from the 2025 Equity Academy. This entailed reading and discussing what past participants shared, what resonated with them, and what they wished had gone deeper. When attendees from the prior year expressed their desire for more opportunity to move the logic model from theory to practice, we listened. Their thoughts informed the session Dr. Osly Flores and I facilitated around mapping equity goals, giving practitioners hands-on tools to take back to their institutions. What I liked about the two sessions during this part of the day was how intentionally they moved between the conceptual and the concrete. The logic model session with Dr. Flores pushed attendees to connect their equity goals to trackable outcomes. And the session on race-conscious caring in educational leadership created a genuine space for reflection on how personal identity shapes how we lead and serve others.

Another learning opportunity for me was the process of helping select a keynote speaker. We invited Dr. Nicole Soulier to do the honors, and she proved to be the ideal defining presenter. We needed someone who understood the specific pressures facing community college educators and leaders, such as enrollment challenges, the growing complexity of student needs, and the tension between institutional efficiency and genuine care. Dr. Soulier, the director of college access and experience programs at Madison College, was the right person for the moment we sought. Her talk was far from a rote performance; rather, it was a conversation the room had been itching to have.

Then there was the experience of helping select the Equity Academy theme, which turned out to be “Guided by CARE: Looking Back to Look Forward,” a focus that stemmed from conversations among the OCCRL research team about what this gathering needed to communicate. Rather than positioning equity work as a problem to be solved with the right framework or tool, the event encouraged practitioners to slow down and ask whether the values they champion are embedded in the systems they operate within. We wanted something that honored the knowledge already present in the communities we serve, practices rooted in Indigenous ways of knowing as well as in relationships and intergenerational care.

Being a member of the planning team meant stepping into roles I have not occupied before. There were moments that pushed me, decisions that required my utmost confidence, and responsibilities that propelled me to grow in ways I did not anticipate when I first joined OCCRL. Dr. Jewel Bourne, whose help and dedication has made OCCRL's recent Equity Academy gatherings possible, was instrumental in assisting all of us in our varied roles. Dr. Bourne (pictured to the left above) leads with purpose and care, and her leadership and commitment toward this work set the tone for all team members.

As I look toward the upcoming academic year, I am aware that our roles and dedication will likely expand. The Equity Academy is an annual event that has become a part of OCCRL’s makeup and legacy. It shapes how leaders at community colleges across Illinois think about equity and their responsibility to the students they serve. Being a part of helping sustain this tradition and helping it grow is something I take great pride in.

I'm already looking forward to the 2027 Equity Academy. One possible idea we have for next year is to set aside time for community college researchers and practitioners to converse about which issues matter most to them and how we can collaborate to get these topics front and center for reshaping.

As a researcher, I often engage with equity work through literature and frameworks. Being in a room full of practitioners who carry on this work daily and who were willing to present challenging inquiries surrounding their institutions was inspirational. It reminded me that my research contributes to those who are navigating today’s tensions in real time.

View photos from the 2026 Equity Academy.