The Campaign for College Opportunity kicked off our 20th year with our first-ever summit, celebrating the Campaign’s advocacy, coalition building and voice in creating greater college opportunity for underrepresented, minoritized students. The 2023 Vision and Action For Equity Summit was a free convening featuring 20+ of California’s and the nation’s top higher education leaders, policymakers, legal experts, academics, philanthropic partners, students, and advocates discussing how the state can lead the nation in advancing racial equity in higher education.
Explore the Summit
Kicking off our 20th Year with Vision & Action for Equity
Welcome
We started the day off with remarks from President Michele Siqueiros and our philanthropic partners, the College Futures Foundation, on how we can set a vision and create an action plan for advancing racial and ethnic equity in California and nationwide in a post-affirmative action world.
Michele Siqueiros
Senior Executive Advisor
Elizabeth Gonzalez, Ph.D.
Chief Program & Strategy Officer, College Futures Foundation
Opening Plenary
Several of our country’s legal experts convened for a discussion on the impacts of the Supreme Court’s decision on race-conscious college and university admissions and how higher education institutions can continue to ensure a racially/ethnically diverse student body.
Michele Siqueiros
Senior Executive Advisor
Bonnie Kwon, J.D.
Policy Officer, Kellogg Foundation
Thomas Saenz, J.D.
President & Senior Counsel, MALDEF
David Hinojosa, J.D.
Director of the Education Opportunities Project, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
Vincent Pan
Co-Executive DirectorChinese for Affirmative Action
Lisa Holder
PresidentEqual Justice Society
RELATED: Overview of the Supreme Court Decision on Race-Conscious Admissions
Morning Plenary
Moderated by Ballmer Group Executive Director Nina Reyvor, education leaders discussed how we can create strong pathways to college by addressing barriers in affordability and the role of math curriculum and the professional development of teachers in college preparation.
Nina Revoyr
Executive Director, Ballmer Group
Marlene Garcia
Executive Director, California Student Aid Commission
Sameer Gadkaree
President & CEO, The Institute for College Access & Success
Pamela Burdman
Executive Director, Just Equations
Tommy Chang, Ed.D.
CEO, New Teacher Center
RELATED: Greater Equity in Higher Education Through Math Opportunity
Lunch Plenary
We held a discussion on how college and university leaders can rethink college admissions for equity by implementing holistic review and reevaluating their practices in recruitment, including demonstrated interest, legacy admissions, and early decision practices.
Max Espinoza
Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Mamie Voight
President & CEO, Institute for Higher Education Policy
Youlonda Copeland-Morgan
Former Vice Provost, UCLA
Michael Bastedo, Ph.D.
Professor & Associate Dean of Research, University of Michigan Marsal Family School of Education
Gary Orfield, Ph.D.
Distinguished Research Professor & Co-Director, The Civil Rights Project at UCLA
RELATED:
Afternoon Plenary I
Moderated by Cosumnes College President Edward Bush, we heard from top community college equity leaders in California about how to redesign placement and transfer pathways for greater student success across racial/ethnic groups.
Jessie Ryan
President
Edward Bush, Ph.D.
President, Cosumnes College
Sonya Christian, Ph.D.
Chancellor, California Community Colleges
Mike Muñoz, Ed.D.
Superintendent-President, Long Beach City College
Kerry Franco
President and Chief Deputy of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation, Greater Los Angeles Education Foundation
Afternoon Plenary II
We were joined by the board chairs of the California Community Colleges, University of California, and California State University governing bodies to discuss the highly-anticipated update to our 2018 watershed publication, “Left Out: How Exclusion in California’s Colleges and Universities Hurts Our Values, Our Students and Our Economy,” highlighting the racial/ethnic and gender disparities between California’s students and state higher education leadership and how that hurts student success.
Michele Siqueiros
Senior Executive Advisor
Shaun Harper, Ph.D.
Provost Professor and Executive Director, USC Race and Equity Center
Autumn Alaniz-Wiggins
Student Body President, California State University, Chico
Casey Chang
Student Member, California Community College Board of Governors
Carlos Rodriguez
Student, University of California, Los Angeles
Richard Leib, J.D.
Chair, University of California Board of Regents
Wenda Fong
Chair, California State University Board of Trustees
Amy Costa
President, California Community Colleges Board of Governors
Frank Harris III, Ed.D.
Professor & Co-Director Community College Equity Assessment Lab, San Diego State University
5:30 PM Reception & Awards
We offered an opportunity for guests to network with other professionals and advocates as we recognized trailblazers that are championing college access and success with an equity-first mindset.
REMARKS
Jacob Fraire
President, ECMC Foundation
Max Espinoza
Senior Program Officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
HONORING
Michele Siqueiros
Senior Executive Advisor
Estela Mara Bensimon, Ph.D.
University Professor Emerita & Founder, Center for Urban Education
Marc Berman
Assemblymember, D-23
The Education Trust-West
Excelencia in Education
