As chief program and network officer at Achieving the Dream, Dr. Monica Parrish Trent leads efforts to engage colleges during their life cycle of participation with ATD, including recruiting and retaining colleges into the ATD network. She delivers learning events that inspire and mobilize college leaders across their organizations to adopt innovative, evidence-based practices that facilitate equitable student success outcomes. She designs and provides programs and services that support and accelerate student success.
With more than 25 years of experience at diverse, multi-campus community colleges, Dr. Trent has maintained a sharp focus on improving student success; reducing equity gaps and increasing social and economic mobility for BIPOC and low-income students; and leading diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts that promote efficacy, agency, and belonging. She has a successful track record leading faculty and staff in change management, program redesign, enrollment management, strategic planning, developmental education reform, and distance and digital learning. Dr. Trent’s extensive experiences give her a deep understanding of the importance of institutional engagement and leadership in improving student success.
Dr. Trent is a 2021-2022 Aspen Rising Presidents Fellow and a peer reviewer for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. She also serves on the advisory boards of the Higher Ed Equity Network, Credential As You Go, and Community College Leadership Doctoral Program at Old Dominion University. Formerly, she served on the American Association of Community College’s Commission on Research, Data and Accountability.
Dr. Trent published and presented at national conferences on leadership, diversity, equity, inclusion, and culturally responsive strategies in higher education.
Education
Ph.D. (Higher Education, Community College Leadership) | Darden College of Education at Old Dominion University
M.A. and B.A. (English) | George Mason University
Past Experience
Provost and Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs | Delaware County Community College
Instructional Dean | Montgomery College
English Faculty | Northern Virginia Community
English Faculty | Brookdale Community College
English Faculty | Montgomery College
How has education changed your life/your family?
Raised in a single-parent household by a young mother who worked towards earning a college degree her entire life, I learned early the power of opportunity, perseverance, and education. I do this work in my mother’s honor and memory.
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