2025 Leadership Fellows Program and Annual Leadership Symposium
Light the Path with NCCHC/Concilio
Long Beach, CA, September 25-27, 2025
Call for Proposals and Presentations
NCCHC/Concilio is the premier organization for Hispanic leadership development in community colleges. We accomplish this by promoting and providing professional development opportunities such as the annual Leadership Symposium and the Leadership Fellows Program.
Access to learning opportunities for all has been a cornerstone of the community college mission since the colleges were created more than a century ago. Our charge has never been more important than it is today. As college leaders across the nation, we need to prepare to meet the dynamic needs of our expanding populations and communities we serve. Access to professional development opportunities, like the Fellows Program and Leadership Symposium, are preparation and bridges to administrative leadership positions.
The Board of Directors of the Concilio asks that you share your knowledge and expertise with your colleagues by submitting a proposal for a presentation at the 2025 Leadership Symposium.
Following the 2025 theme, we are looking for proposals that address innovative solutions to the following challenges:
Lighting the Path to Student Success
- Innovative Strategies for Increasing Enrollment (e.g., outreach, dual enrollment, community partnerships, adult learners)
- Lighting the Way to Completion: Practices That Increase Graduation and Retention Rates
- Bridging the Gap: College Readiness for High School and Adult Learners (e.g., summerbridge programs, curriculum alignment, partnerships with K–12)
- Accelerated Access: Expanding Impact through Dual and Concurrent Enrollment (e.g.,early college high schools, dual enrollment pathways, partnerships with K–12 districts and employers)
Shining a Light on Change and Impact
- Personal Journeys of Transformation: Real Stories Behind Big Shifts (e.g., how individual faculty, staff, or students contributed to or were impacted by scaling innovation, managing change, or seeing pilot programs evolve into lasting policies)
- Purpose in Practice: How Everyday Leaders Are Reimagining the Community College Experience (e.g., stories of students navigating the tension between access and completion, educators designing learner-centered experiences, or community members co-creating engaged learning environments)
- Finding Your Place in a Changing Landscape: Personal Reflections on Evolving Institutional Roles (e.g., how individuals are adapting to new workforce expectations, supporting transfer pathways, or driving local innovation within their roles and communities)
Workforce Development & Futures Thinking
- Closing the American Skills Gap: Community Colleges as Catalysts for Workforce Readiness (e.g., industry-aligned curricula, apprenticeships, fast-track programs)
- Pathways to Purpose: Aligning Programs with Labor Market Demand and Social Mobility (e.g., stackable credentials, microcredentials/PLA, career ladders, data-informed program design)
- Lighting the Future of Work: Using Futures Thinking to Prepare for an Evolving Workforce (e.g., scenario planning, emerging technologies, human-centered design, long-term labor trends)
Lighting the Path Together: Collaboration & Investment
- Investing in What Works: Building Collaborative Support Structures for Student Success (e.g., wraparound services, mental health support, cross-campus teams)
- Strategic Alignment: Targeting Public and Private Investments for Maximum Impact (e.g., leveraging grants, public-private partnerships, regional economic development)
- Coalitions for Change: Multi-Sector Collaborations
It’s easy to submit a session proposal!
Please complete and submit the online form below. It’s as simple as that. Each breakout session will be 45 minutes in length and should allow time for questions and answers at the conclusion. We anticipate 25 to 30 attendees per session. Those presenters chosen will be asked to bring enough handouts for session attendees if handouts are desired and to provide us with an electronic version of their presentations/handouts one week prior to the Symposium. Submission of a proposal for a presentation will serve as authorization for NCCHC to post any session content on the NCCHC website for future reference by members. Presenters are expected to register for the conference at the established rates.
Deadline to submit: July 11, 2025
The 2025 Symposium will follow the same, streamlined format instituted in years past to maximize professional development and networking time. The Symposium will begin Thursday evening (9/25) with an amazing welcome dinner and Fellows graduation celebration, a full day of sessions and presentations on Friday, and will conclude at approximately 1 p.m. on Saturday (9/27) so you may return home to enjoy personal time and prepare for the week ahead; or, you may bring the family along and have time to enjoy the many wonderful activities available in Long Beach! Presenters are invited to book hotel rooms at the special conference rate. Hotel information is posted on the website.
All potential presenters will be notified of proposal status by July 31, 2025. Those chosen will receive presenter information/details shortly after they are confirmed.
Thank you for your continued interest and support of NCCHC. Should you have any questions regarding this process, please call Kimberly Andosca, NCCHC Executive Director at (916) 231‐8970 or email at kandosca@amgroup.us We appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge and expertise with your peers as NCCHC continues to help train and develop administrators.