As soft notes of jazz and the smell of warm beignets wafted through the Rhythms Ballroom, it struck me that New Orleans was the perfect backdrop for a preconference session on pivoting to ensure we can continue to serve all of our learners well in a rapidly changing policy environment for issues of access, inclusion, and student success. This city embodies what it means to pivot – to adapt to changing circumstances, meet what comes, and ensure the whole community thrives.
That same spirit echoed in the session keynote from Dr. Lori Patton Davis, who shared the story of Elizabeth Evelyn Wright, the visionary founder of Voorhees University,a Historically Black College in South Carolina originally known as Denmark Industrial School for African Americans. Arsonists burned down Wright’s early schools repeatedly. Each time, she rebuilt. What ultimately allowed her work to endure wasn’t just determination; it was strategy. She realized that to sustain her mission, she had to align it with something her detractors already valued: business. Wright eventually opened her school on the second floor of a store.
Dr. Patton Davis reminded the audience that pivoting is both releasing and embracing, letting go of one frame while holding fast to the purpose beneath it. That reflection stayed with me throughout the day and the rest of the conference. In our work now, we’re facing a moment that asks us to pivot – to reframe educational access and student success not as moral imperatives, beyond even as essential aspects of institutional success and community well-being, but as critical elements of the user experience and levers to increase ROI.
Dr. Patton Davis reminded the audience that pivoting is both releasing and embracing, letting go of one frame while holding fast to the purpose beneath it. That reflection stayed with me throughout the day and the rest of the conference. In our work now, we’re facing a moment that asks us to pivot – to reframe educational access and student success not as moral imperatives, beyond even as essential aspects of institutional success and community well-being, but as critical elements of the user experience and levers to increase ROI.
This focus on postsecondary value is reflected in the frameworks being developed to measure it, including the Gates Foundation’s Postsecondary Value Commission and Framework, Strada Education Foundation’s State Opportunity Index, the Carnegie Classifications' 2025 Student Access and Earnings Classification, Third Way’s Price-to-Earnings Premium and Economic Mobility Index, and Advance CTE’s latest report on the state of career and technical education entitled “Credentials of Value”. The good news is that, taken together, these frameworks make a strong case for the value our member institutions deliver, not only for learners, but also for employers and regional economies. There is, of course, still much work to be done around creating a successful learning experience for all students, but such frameworks provide the shared language and metrics to work toward that goal.
The panel discussion and learning activities that followed the session keynote carried this theme forward. Panelists spoke about using the right message, language, and evidence for various stakeholders, and participants applied this insight in subsequent conversations, noting that pursuing corporate sponsorship with a focus on workforce development may currently be especially fruitful. It’s a pragmatic approach that can keep important work aliveand ensure we meet the needs of all the students we serve. However, when the business case becomes the only case, our moral foundation weakens. The challenge is to pivot with intention, to release the language while continuing to embrace the values that give the work its meaning. In New Orleans, that lesson felt especially fitting. This is a city that knows how to hold joy and struggle together, how to transform adversity into art, and how to stay rooted while still moving forward. That, I think, is the essence of this big pivot: changing direction while still keeping the beat with what matters most.
The Big Pivot is a collaboration between ACCT and Dr. Keith Curry, President of Compton College, and is supported by the ECMC Foundation. Stay tuned for additional events and resources.
Lindsey Myers is currently a consultant for ACCT supporting a number of projects, including the Big Pivot and the newly launched Global Workforce Coalition. She also serves as online adjunct faculty at Southern New Hampshire University. Prior to joining ACCT, she served in several roles at the American Council on Education, including as the Founding Director of ACE’s Learner Success Lab.
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