This year’s Talent Strong Florida Summit – Access for All convened a community of over 350 passionate education leaders. Their presence represents the power of our network and the continuous desire to strengthen partnerships through aligned strategic vision and best practices.
Our attendees, speakers, and sponsors helped make this annual convening a success. Take a look at photos from the summit to download and share on social channels while using #FCAN2024 and #TalentStrongFL.
Exploring Access For All Theme
In preparation for the summit, our network subscribers were invited to learn more about this year’s Access for All theme. The FCAN team provided insight into the summit theme to inspire attendees on our vision of working together to achieve success for Florida students.
FCAN and our partners believe all Floridians need access to a postsecondary education to meet the needs of Florida’s growing economy.
Talent Strong Florida Summit Awards
FCAN recognized four awardees at the Talent Strong Florida Summit. A big congratulations to the FAFSA Trailblazer: Kenny Cabrera with Miami Beach Senior High School, College Ready Florida Innovator: Stacey James with Armwood High School, and Workforce Education Innovator: Theodore Newfield with Armwood High School.
We appreciate your hard work and commitment to supporting Florida students.
Dr. Cindy DeLuca, 2024 FCAN Champion, was also recognized for her leadership and dedication to FCAN’s mission. Congratulations, Cindy!
General Session Speakers
This year’s Keynote Session Speakers for the Talent Strong Florida Summit – Access for All included Maurice Allen, Paul J. Luna, and Narietha Carter-McClain.
Our speakers brought unique perspectives from their experiences and include trailblazing first-generation college graduates, passionate education leaders, strategic innovators, and charismatic partners, all leading the movement toward education and career success for all Floridians.
Narietha Carter-McClain, Paul J. Luna, and Maurice Allen during the 2024 Talent Strong Summit – Access for All
Policy
Florida is making strides towards its’ SAIL to 60 Goal, created in 2019 to increase education attainment to 60% by 2030.
Florida’s current postsecondary education attainment rate is 54.5%. However, significant gaps exist. FCAN acknowledged this gap to help ensure our most vulnerable students benefit from existing programs to achieve this goal equitably.
This year’s “Rapid Fire Conversations: Ensuring Access for All through Policy Opportunities” featured several notable speakers:
Paul Luna, President and CEO of Helios Education Foundation, shared how college is a net positive for Black students in Florida and provided recommendations on increasing college access and persistence for this population.
Madeline Pumariega, President at Miami Dade College, provided her perspective on the importance of talent attainment in a knowledge economy.
Dave Sobush, FCAN’s Director of Research and Policy, and Ismaray Govea, a Miami Dade College graduate and current student at Florida International University (FIU), made the case for dual enrollment and focused on the ways students can access these courses, the benefits they receive, and opportunities to further expand this program in Florida.
Presentation slides for each breakout session can be found on the summit website – click on the Agenda tab, select a session, and scroll down to Attachments to view resources from that session.