The Local Advantage: Community College Innovations 

Moderator:

Melanie D’Evelyn, Executive Director, Advisory and Capacity Building, One Million Degrees

Panelists:

Dr. Lance Bolton, President, Pikes Peak State College

Dr. Mordecai Brownlee, President, Community College of Aurora

Dr. Rosana Reyes, President, Lamar Community College

Community colleges are at the forefront of innovation in education-to-workforce systems. Across the state, they are no longer simply institutions of higher education — they are becoming regional workforce intermediaries, innovation hubs, and economic engines. Yet too often, the full strength of this system remains underleveraged, with promising models operating in pockets rather than at scale.

This session brings together community college leaders from across Colorado to examine what it takes to build a more aligned, opportunity-driven education-to-workforce system.

Panelists will frame emerging innovations — flexible scheduling, short-term credentials, hybrid and online coursework, and concurrent enrollment — that are expanding access for working adults, rural learners, and first-generation students. College leaders will ground the conversation in how their campuses are translating statewide priorities into action across career-connected learning, advising and navigation, employer-led strategies, and learner/earner experience.

The session will highlight how Colorado is leveraging the collective strength of its community colleges while giving each campus room to innovate in response to its local economy and learners, using data and evidence to continuously improve and expand impact.

Together, panelists will explore how affordable, career-focused education and stackable credentials can be scaled and strengthened through cross-sector alignment—ensuring every learner and earner has multiple ways to access in-demand careers that support their families and strengthen their communities.

Shifting Mindsets: What Our Own Kids Taught Us About Success After High School

Moderator:

Curtis Esquibel, Sr. Director of Communications & Community Engagement,  Boettcher Foundation

Panelists:

Kristin Todd, President and CEO, Community Foundation of Northern Colorado

Nate Cadena, Chief Impact Officer at Denver Scholarship Foundation 

Nate Easley, College Track's Regional Executive Director, Colorado State University System 

Jacob Suniga, Learner

Colorado's understanding of "college success" is being tested and redefined.  Across the state, parents who have spent their careers promoting college access are navigating something deeply personal in their own homes: supporting their own children as they pursue pathways that don't follow the traditional college route — apprenticeships, technical programs, certificates, military service, or other career-connected options. Yet too often, the systems built to support learners remain narrowly defined, leaving little room for the multiple, equally valuable paths young people are choosing today.

This session brings together a small group of parents — each a longtime advocate for college access — to examine what it takes to build systems that truly embrace multiple high-quality pathways.

Panelists will share what this shift looks like, both personally and professionally, as they navigate a gap between their career's work and their own family's choices. They will reflect on how their mindsets have been challenged or expanded in the process, and what they've learned about the value — and legitimacy—of non-traditional routes to opportunity.

The conversation will explore what it will take for education and workforce systems to move beyond a single definition of success, creating real space for apprenticeships, technical training, and other career-connected pathways alongside a four-year degree.

Together, panelists will offer a candid, personal perspective on what it means to hold both professional expertise and parental uncertainty — and what it will take to build a system that works for every learner and earner, no matter the path they choose.