CHICAGO, Oct. 25, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Autism Community Ventures, a public benefit corporation with a global network of partner organizations and a mission to drive social, economic, and financial inclusion among neurodiverse jobseekers, is proud to announce that Dr. Maureen Dunne has been officially elected to the Board of Directors of the Association of Community College Trustees (the "ACCT") at the ACCT's annual Leadership Congress, the premier annual conference for community college leaders and the only national conference dedicated to community college trustees, which was held last week in San Diego, CA.
Each year, approximately 2,000 community and technical college trustees, CEOs and other executives, and federal higher education policy influencers gather to share information about community college advocacy, advancing student success, governance best practices, and other topics central to succeeding as a community college. This Leadership Congress event also serves as the forum for the election of new ACCT executive leaders and board directors.
The ACCT is a non-profit educational organization of governing boards representing more than 6,500 elected and appointed trustees who oversee more than 1,200 community, technical, and junior colleges in the United States and beyond, guiding the legislative priorities impacting over 12 million college students. Located in Washington, D.C., the organization serves as the voice of community college trustees to the White House, the United States Congress, the Departments of Education and Labor, and other key federal bodies.
A prior keynote speaker for Community College Day at the National Science Foundation, Dunne has led a diverse career as an entrepreneur, neurodiversity advocate, education technology executive, and social impact investor. She is now also Chair of the Board of Trustees at College of DuPage, one of the largest community colleges in the nation, representing 1.2 million residents and approximately 25k students, granting her large-scale firsthand experience with the fine balance of constraints and resources that define the obstacles and opportunities faced by community colleges as they work to confront new challenges and navigate the rapidly evolving needs of students, faculty members, employers, and surrounding communities.
"I truly believe our community college system is the most important institution in our country for transforming lives through accessible education and opportunity," stated Dunne. "Together, we will face an unprecedented post-pandemic economic reconstruction process, an increasingly imbalanced socioeconomic opportunity problem, and an employment landscape changing at an accelerating rate as automation, artificial intelligence, and robotics gain increasing purchase across nearly every major industry. ACCT will be called into action to serve as a central resource in addressing many of these challenges over coming years in every community across the country. And I am honored, excited, and grateful for the opportunity to help in that mission."
These ideas were reinforced by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden as a key speaker at this year's ACCT National Legislative Summit, when she commented that community colleges are no longer America's "best-kept secret" but "our most powerful engines of prosperity."
Dunne is also a member of the Association of Community College Trustees Public Policy and Advocacy Committee, President-elect of the Illinois Community College Trustees Association (ICCTA), and the first-ever community college graduate to be named a Rhodes Scholar.
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