New America and ACCT Announce National Advisory Committee on Workforce & Economic Development

The Advisory Committee will support a first-of-its-kind study of community college presidents and trustees in economic development

May 4, 2026

Natalya Brill

Shalin Jyotishi, Tiffany Thai, Joyce Hwang, Steve Jurch, Erin Baldwin

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Last week, New America’s Future of Work & Innovation Economy initiative and the Association of Community College Trustees (ACCT)’s Center for Policy & Practice launched a first-of-its-kind survey of community college trustees and presidents to identify promising practices in governance leadership for institutional capacity-building related to economic and workforce development. Trustees and presidents are invited to respond to the survey by Friday, June 12, 2026.

Complete the survey

This partnership is an expansion on the mission of the Accelerator for Community Colleges in the Innovation Economy, launched in 2024 as a strategic initiative between New America and the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF). The Accelerator advances research, technical assistance, and storytelling to build capacity across the community college sector for tech-based economic development and emerging technology-related workforce training.

Under the partnership, New America and ACCT will undertake new national initiatives to build the capacity of community colleges for workforce and economic development. The survey is part of a core project that focuses on the critical role of community college trustees in strengthening the institutional policies, processes, and systems of college governance for maximum regional impact.

We are thrilled to announce the New America-ACCT Advisory Committee on Economic & Workforce Development to support this initiative on building the capacity of community college trustees. The Advisory Committee is composed of trustee-president pairs from community colleges known to be high performers in regional economic and workforce development, including around advanced and emerging industries.

This group of sector leaders will support the project by providing input on survey analysis and publication, strategizing around leadership development offerings for community colleges, and disseminating insights across the community college field, including the public dissemination and outreach efforts of this project and its findings.

New America and ACCT invite community college leaders to indicate interest in staying connected to this project by filling out this interest form.