At the 2024 CTE Leadership Collaborative (LC) Convening, an annual, in-person networking opportunity for ECMC Foundation’s collective of postsecondary career and technical education (CTE) professionals known as ECMC Foundation Fellows, or Fellows, our partners at Show the Good, a social good video production company, sat down with five pairs of Fellows and filmed their conversations. 

Delivering postsecondary CTE that facilitates degree and certificate attainment for learners across the country, and employability in leading industries, requires collaboration across research, pedagogy, administration, media, industry, data and policy. The CTE LC has made considerable progress in pushing discussions beyond the singular dimension of industry-to-classroom connection; yet there is a long path forward to reaching a higher education system that is informed by real-time connections to the six areas represented by the CTE LC. The conversations below were not scripted, nor were the participants connected in advance. Each individual represented a different viewpoint, industry, geography and position. 

The CTE LC is a composition of the varied perspectives represented in postsecondary CTE. The thought-provoking discussions captured in this experiment illuminate the ways in which postsecondary CTE professionals may work better together to achieve their goals individually and collectively. The series also highlights the important work the Fellows are doing, as part of the CTE LC, to find solutions to challenges and enact change in postsecondary CTE. 

So what happens when practitioners reach beyond their institutions and connect with peers in other segments? Watch below to find out.

Aligning CTE Skills and Industry Needs

JENNIFER KLINE, Associate Dean of Academics, Erie County Community College, The Postsecondary Leadership Success Program at ACTE and CORY CHRISTMAS, Director, Training and Development, Higline Warren, The CTE Industry Fellowship Program at JFF

Telling the Story of CTE 

CRYSTAL GARDNER, Program Director, Workforce Instruction, Houston Community College, The Postsecondary State CTE Leaders Fellowship Program at Advance CTE and NIRVI SHAH, Executive Editor, The Hechinger Report, The Higher Education Media Fellowship at the Institute for Citizens & Scholars

Achieving Equitable Outcomes in CTE Research

MICARA LEWIS-SESSOMS, Director, Work-Based Education & Apprenticeship, Durham Technical Community College, The CTE Research Program at Old Dominion University and CHARLES CLARK, Associate Vice President of Strategic Analytics and Planning, Nashville State Community College, The Strategic Data Project - CTE at Harvard University

Broadening the CTE Landscape

DOMINIQUE FOOTES, Special Programs Administrator , Southeastern Universities Research Association, The Postsecondary State CTE Leaders Fellowship Program at Advance CTE and ANGELA BENJAMIN, General Manager, Partnerships and Social Impact, Delta, The CTE Industry Fellowship Program at JFF

Leveraging Data and Media for Positive CTE Storytelling

CORBIN HIAR, EBusiness Reporter, POLITICO’s E&E News, The Higher Education Media Fellowship at the Institute for Citizens & Scholars and BRYAN BERTUCCI, Dean, Career and Technical Education, River Parishes Community College, The Postsecondary Leadership Success Program at ACTE

For a recap of the sixth annual CTE Leadership Collaborative Convening, click here.