Mayra Olivares-Urueta, Ph.D. works to remove institutional barriers and ensure the success of all students, especially historically marginalized and excluded populations. An experienced higher education professional and executive in community colleges, Mayra is a published scholar-practitioner and leadership consultant, currently serving as Executive in Residence in the Higher Education Program and Director of the Bill J. Priest Center for Community College Education at the University of North Texas in Denton. In 2018 she was named an American Association of Women in Community Colleges 40 under 40 and in 2020 she became a fellow of the Aspen Institute's Rising Presidents program. She is a former president of the Texas Association of Chicanos in Higher Education, TACHE, and currently serves as faculty-in-residence within the Community Colleges Division of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators. She volunteers for multiple educational and community organizations locally and nationally, and is the proud spouse of Alejandro and mami of Isabel, Olivia, and fur baby Luna.

Will Bowlin, Ph.D., has served as a government and history instructor at Northeast Mississippi Community College since 2014.  He holds a bachelor’s degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science, a master’s degree in Public Policy and Administration, and a doctorate in Community College Leadership, all from Mississippi State University.  Prior to NEMCC, Dr. Bowlin worked for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks.

Beyond the classroom, Dr. Bowlin is involved with organizations such as the Mississippi Historical Society, the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge, and NASPA’s Community College Division.  He and his wife Sallye have two children (Carson and Hayden) and reside in Booneville, MS

Dr. Gillian (Dr. G) McKnight-Tutein (she/hers) is currently the Vice President of Enrollment Administration and Student Success at Community College of Denver. As the senior student services officer, and a member of the president’s Executive Council, she provides vision and leads all student affairs divisions on the Auraria campus.

An award-winning instructor and administrator, McKnight-Tutein believes that each student was inherently born for greatness and that their potential is infinite. She expects that everyone at the college, regardless of title, takes responsibility for students realizing their definition of success. McKnight-Tutein has a bias towards data-driven action and has led the Guided Pathways efforts framework to create a thriving educational ecosystem for concurrent, transfer, and career and technical students.

Prior to her 17 years in higher education, McKnight-Tutein worked at several Fortune 500 companies leading teams all over the world. McKnight-Tutein brings her corporate experiences to bear when partnering with organizations to build employment connections for students and when talking to students about their career aspirations. She believes in the power of career mentoring, and succession planning. While she always hopes to have a positive effect on employees’ lives, she is ever aware of the impact they have on her own life.

McKnight-Tutein has served on AACC’s Commission on Student Success, Colorado Department of Higher Education’s General Education Council, and the Colorado Community College System’s VP Council. She is the recipient of several awards, including the 2022 Bernice Joseph Leadership Award.

Dr. G, a Caribbean immigrant, is a first-generation high school and college graduate. She earned an associate degree from the College of Boca Raton, a bachelor’s in psychology from Florida International University, a master’s in human resources development administration from Barry University, and a doctorate in instructional technology and distance education from Nova Southeastern University.

Dr. Edward F. Martinez currently serves as the Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Campus Senior Student Affairs Officer at Suffolk County Community College, the largest multi-campus community college in the State University of New York (SUNY) System. He has substantial administrative, academic, and program development experience in higher education, as well as a history of holding several national leadership positions in Student Affairs.  Specifically, Dr. Martinez previously served as the Community Colleges Division Director on the NASPA-Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education Board of Directors.  He is currently the Board of Directors Secretary for The Higher Education Consortium for Student Affairs Certification, a SUNY Hispanic Leadership Fellow, and a member of the Board of Directors for the NASPA Foundation. Dr. Martinez has worked in the field of student affairs for approximately 30 years.  Throughout that time, he has had the privilege of serving in several key leadership positions at numerous institutions including a specialized college, small college, residential and for-profit institution and most recently a community college. His research interests center on the experiences of students and professionals in the community college sector. As a first-generation college student, his passion inspired him to work as a student access advocate. He has intentionally formed bridges between student and academic affairs, creating exceptional student experiences. Dr. Martinez earned a Doctoral Degree in Educational Administration and Leadership from Dowling College, a Master’s Degree in Counseling and Development from Long Island University, and Bachelor’s Degree in Social Sciences from Dominican University.

Dr. Brownlee is an inclusive educator who proudly served as the sixth president of the Community College of Aurora. Within the first two years of his presidency, President Brownlee has already brought about significant change and improved the student success agenda at the Community College of Aurora. These successes include CCA embarking upon its first capital project in 24 years, record-breaking capital and scholarship fundraising, the hiring of CCA’s largest and most diverse faculty ranks in the college’s history, improved student completions by more than 20%.

Dr. Mordecai publishes frequently, including serving as a columnist for EdSurge. He also teaches for Lamar University and the University of Charleston. Dr. Mordecai has been featured on several local, state, and national platforms including the American Association of Community Colleges Community College Journal, NASPA Leadership Exchange, EdUp Experience, EdTech Magazine, and Colorado Sentinel. In 2023, Dr. Mordecai was named 40 Under 40 by the prestigious Denver Business Journal and the Community Leader of the Year by the Aurora Chamber of Commerce. In 2022, he was featured by Diverse: Issues in Higher Education Magazine as a “New School” leader representing the next generation of college presidents.

Dr. Dixon has spent twenty three years working in Institutional Research.   He holds a Doctorate of Education: Curriculum and Instruction and a Masters of Science in Clinical Psychology.  Dr. Dixon currently serves as the Director of Institutional Research at Monroe Community College in Rochester, NY where he oversees mandated reporting along with predictive analytics and the ethical use of data.  He has experience with the Virginia, Tennessee, and New York education systems and has worked closely with the Gates Foundation, Lumina Foundation, and the Aspen Institute.

During his tenure, Dr. Dixon has overseen several initiatives including data warehousing, college accreditation, state and federal reporting, college financial audits, Banner implementation, Grants, and a number of other projects.  Dr. Dixon’s experience in multiple areas allows him to understand the vast amount of  data available and how this data can be used in different ways.  He is a champion of data training and access and believes strongly that people make the best decision possible based on the data they have, they just may not have the right dataset.

Dr. Timothy Alvarez recently retired as President Emeritus from Otero College, where he served as only the 5th president. He was relentlessly focused on student engagement, minimizing systematic barriers, equity and inclusion, undergraduate research, career readiness, and mentoring. Professionally, Dr. Alvarez provided leadership to the National Association of Student Affairs Professionals (NASPA), the Association of Land Grant Universities (APLU), and the broader community. Within NASPA, he has been a regional director, NUFP regional coordinator, state membership coordinator, regional membership coordinator, conference program co-chair, case study judge, program reviewer, and board member for the James Scott Academy.

Dr. Alvarez also enjoys community involvement, as evidenced by his recent participation in the El Pomar Foundation, the Koshare Museum Board of Directors, the La Junta School District Advisory Council, and the La Junta Main Street Board.

Dr. Alvarez has been married to Lori for thirty-eight years. They have three grown children, Joshua, Jason, and Tiffany, and 5 grandsons under the age of 4.