Featured speakerS

First Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden

Dr. Biden is a lifelong community college advocate, teaching English and writing at Northern Virginia Community College. Prior to moving to Washington, D.C. to serve as Second Lady in 2008, she was a professor of English at Delaware Technical Community College for 15 years.

As the Obama-Biden Administration focused on recovering from the 2008 economic recession, Dr. Biden worked to underscore the critical role of community colleges in the nation’s economy. She hosted the first-ever White House Summit on Community Colleges with President Obama and led the Community College to Career Bus Tour to highlight industry partnerships between community colleges and employers. She also became the honorary chair of the College Promise National Advisory Board, leading the effort to make community colleges free for hard-working students.

At the NLS, she will address the Biden-Harris administration's higher education efforts to over 700 community college leaders and advocates from throughout the United States.

Dr. Miguel Cardona

U.S. Secretary of Education

Miguel A. Cardona is the 12th U.S. Secretary of Education. Secretary Cardona has dedicated his career to serving students, educators, and families as an elementary school teacher, school principal, district administrator, and, most recently, as commissioner of education for the state of Connecticut. Secretary Cardona’s focus on equity and excellence for all learners has driven his work at all levels of the education sector. Secretary Cardona has led the federal government’s effort to support states in reopening America’s public schools for in-person learning amid the recovery from the pandemic, moving from only 46 percent of schools open when President Biden took office to nearly 100 percent of schools open today. Under Secretary Cardona’s leadership, the U.S. Department of Education also has distributed historic funding through the American Rescue Plan to support K-12 schools and colleges and has granted more than $13 billion in student loan forgiveness.

Secretary Cardona earned a bachelor’s degree at Central Connecticut State University as well as a master’s degree and doctorate degree from the University of Connecticut. Secretary Cardona and his wife Marissa are the proud parents of two children who attend public school.

Read more about Secretary Miguel Cardona in the fall 2021 issue of Trustee Quarterly magazine.

Major Garrett

FOR 30 YEARS, MAJOR GARRETT has reported from the front lines of the nation’s pressing issues, doggedly chasing and breaking news stories. He has covered Congress for two major magazines and served as White House correspondent for three television networks. He is now the Chief Washington Correspondent for CBS News, and was the network’s chief political reporter covering the 2016 Republican race for the White House. In 2020 he was one of the first national correspondents to focus on voting procedures, voting integrity, and voter turnout. A truly non-partisan reporter, Major is available to speak and moderate panels on the state of politics today, the inner workings of Congress, and the role of the media. His humorous, direct, and dynamic speeches call upon personal anecdotes from his time on the Hill, well-built relationships with top political players, as well as tales from the presidential campaigns he’s crisscrossed the country covering. He has worked for the White House teams of both CNN and Fox News and has worked with other outlets including U.S. News and World Report, Washington Times, The Weekly Standard, and Mother Jones.