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 was recognized as one of Diverse Issues in Higher Education’s 25 Leading Women in Higher Education for the year 2023, is a 2021-2022 Aspen Institute Rising Presidents Fellow, and serves on national advisory boards of Credential As You Go Phase 2 and the Higher Ed Equity Network. A proud alumna, Dr. Trent serves on the George Mason University Inclusive Excellence and Old Dominion University Community College Leadership Doctoral Program advisory boards. Formerly, she served on the American Association of Community College’s Commission on Research, Data and Accountability and as a peer reviewer for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.
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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