Strengthening Connections and Amplifying Purpose

November 4, 2025

This November, The Attainment Network team is showing up in spaces that reflect our mission as we seek to strengthen connections and amplify our mission to evolve school-to-career systems across Colorado and beyond. Whether it’s supporting rural partners in the San Luis Valley, engaging with students and employers at a career fair, or presenting on systems transformation at a national convening, we’re excited to keep learning and leading alongside our partners and collaborators. 


Here’s where you can find us this November: 


🗓️ November 3–5 
🔹
Purpose Jam – Denver
Katherine and Michelle will attend this multi-day gathering hosted by The Purpose Commons, bringing together young people, educators, funders, and researchers around one big idea: that every young person deserves a life filled with purpose and possibility. 


🗓️ November 4 
🔹
MSU Denver 60th Anniversary Presidential Luncheon – Denver
Rana will join University leaders, alumni, faculty, and friends to celebrate six decades of innovation and inclusion at MSU Denver and its enduring impact on higher education in Colorado. 


🗓️ November 10 
🔹
SLV All-Partner Meeting – Alamosa
Ashley will connect with regional leaders to share updates and coordinate efforts across education, workforce, and healthcare initiatives in the San Luis Valley. 


🗓️ November 12 
🔹
SLV Career Fair – Alamosa
Ashley is working with our partners in the Valley to connect high school and college learners with local employers, training providers, and work-based learning opportunities in high-demand fields. 

🔹 CDE Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness (PWR) Regional Training – Denver
Michelle will attend this training to support districts and schools in navigating recent PWR updates resulting from the 2025 legislative session – including new funding, changes to school and district accountability, and tools aligned with “The Big Three.” 

🔹 Colorado CTE Data Summit – Denver
Stefan will join CTE leaders and data professionals for two days of insights, skill-building, and updates on statewide data initiatives, including the Colorado Longitudinal Data System. 

🔹 ECMC Foundation Rural Impact Initiative Reception – Denver  
Stefan and Rana will attend this reception at the
Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE) Annual Conference. The event will bring together leaders, researchers, and practitioners committed to strengthening postsecondary access and success in rural communities. 


🗓️ November 17–19 
🔹
Next: The 2025 Complete College America Annual Convening  – Baltimore
Katherine and Michelle will present on how to use design thinking and cross-sector collaboration protocols to drive consensus and action in career-connected learning systems. They’ll join leaders from across the country to share strategies that position higher education as a force for transformation. 

We hope to see you at one of these events or hear from you if you're working on similar efforts. As always, we’re eager to connect, collaborate, and amplify what’s working. 

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We are so excited about the month ahead! We have so many opportunities to connect with our brilliant partners here in Colorado and beyond to learn, explore, and design what’s next for preparing learners and earners for in-demand careers. And the biggest opportunity of all is our Career-Connected L/Earning Conference, Oct. 29-30 in Colorado Springs. We’ve been working on this conference all year, and we can’t wait to see you there! Here’s where you can find us this October: 🗓️ October 7 🔹 Boettcher State of Leadership: San Luis Valley Convening — Fort Garland Who will be the “Next Ten” leaders stepping up in the San Luis Valley? Ashley and Wes will join current and emerging community leaders for a conversation about strengthening the region’s leadership pipeline, building new connections and addressing the “Same Ten People” challenge identified through the Boettcher Foundation’s State of Leadership initiative. 🗓️ October 8 🔹 Postsecondary Talent Development System Transition Advisory Committee — Edwards Michelle Camacho Liu will reconvene with fellow committee members to continue developing recommendations that will guide Colorado’s new unified postsecondary talent development system. If you'd like to join sign up through the RSVP link . 🗓️ October 12-14 🔹 CFO Leadership Conference — Westminster Finance executives from across the country, including our own Michelle Payne, will explore emerging trends in leadership, AI and technology, economic conditions, and strategies for strengthening organizational performance. 🗓️ October 13 🔹 Superintendent Meeting — Monte Vista Ashley and Wes will connect with San Luis Valley superintendents to continue strengthening regional collaboration needed for pathways that lead to in-demand careers and economic mobility. 🗓️ October 14-16 🔹 Leading with Value, Building Trust: Lumina State Policy Retreat — Philadelphia Rana will join state teams from across the country for this invite-only convening focused on value-centered postsecondary attainment goals, better alignment between higher education and workforce needs, and how states define and measure credentials of value. 🗓️ October 20 🔹 Human Capital Summit — Arvada As AI and emerging technologies reshape the workplace, what human skills will matter most? Katherine will join employers, executives, HR professionals and community leaders for this Greater Arvada Chamber and Colorado Inclusive Economy event exploring how organizations are staying competitive by investing in people, culture, and innovation. 🔹 Making Pathways Data Useful: Pathways Impact Community Workshop — Virtual Michelle will join partners for a working session focused on making pathways data more useful and actionable. 🔹 CDE Technical Advisory Panel for PWR Accountability Metrics — Virtual Stefan will join his fellow TAP member to work on designing Colorado’s Postsecondary and Workforce Readiness accountability metrics. 🗓️ October 21 🔹 Postsecondary Talent Development System Transition Advisory Committee — Virtual The Transition Advisory Committee reconvenes. 🗓️ October 29-30 🔹 Career-Connected L/Earning Conference — Colorado Springs It’s the event we’ve been looking forward to all year! The entire Attainment Network team will join hundreds of leaders from education, workforce, industry, government, philanthropy and community organizations for two days of learning, connection and collaboration focused on building stronger education-to-career pathways. We hope you’ll join us!