This content was published: September 13, 2022. Phone numbers, email addresses, and other information may have changed.
Adrien Bennings, president of Portland Community College, Selected for the Aspen Institute’s New Presidents Fellowship
Photos and story by Kate Chester
Adrien Bennings, president of Portland Community College, has been selected as one of 26 leaders within the 2022-23 class of the Aspen New Presidents Fellowship, part of the Aspen Institute College Excellence Program. This program, made possible with support from JPMorgan Chase, supports community college presidents in the early years of their tenure as they work to achieve higher and more equitable levels of student success.
This class of fellows represent the diversity of our nation’s community colleges, collectively serving more than 250,000 students at colleges across the nation, in urban, suburban, and rural areas. The incoming class of New Presidents Fellows is 46 percent female, with 65 percent being people of color. Located in 19 states, their institutions are also diverse, ranging from a tribal college with fewer than 300 students, to an urban college that educates more than 35,000 each year.
Selected through a competitive process, Bennings and her colleagues will work closely with other transformational community college presidents and Aspen leaders over the next nine months. They will learn from field-leading research, analyze their colleges’ student outcomes, and clarify their visions for excellent and equitable outcomes for students while in college and after they graduate.
“The quality of our nation’s community colleges depends on the quality of our college presidents,” said Josh Wyner, executive director of the College Excellence Program. “I am continually inspired and motivated by the dedication and expertise that our fellows bring to the work of advancing excellence and equity on their campuses, and I look forward to seeing the changes they make in real time to improve outcomes for their students.”
JPMorgan Chase’s philanthropic support for the Aspen Presidential Fellowship is part of the firm’s New Skills at Work initiative to prepare young people for the future of work and meet the growing demand for skilled workers, and the $30 billion commitment to advance racial equity and drive an inclusive economy.
For bios and photos of all 26 leaders, visit the Aspen Institute website.