Overview of Fellowship

The Postsecondary State Career Technical Education (CTE) Leaders Fellowship at Advance CTE - Sponsored by ECMC Foundation -  will build a diverse leadership talent pipeline with a core focus on racial equity to expand state-level capacity in postsecondary CTE systems. This Fellowship will be offered to up to 20 participants.

This Fellowship is designed to:

• Increase the pipeline and racial diversity of state postsecondary CTE leaders.
• Support mid-career professionals who have a deep knowledge of CTE and aspire to be a state postsecondary CTE leader with: 
  • The knowledge, tools and network to develop, build support for, lead and evaluate postsecondary CTE programs and policies at the state level, ensuring that all programming is equitable and aligned with the standards set forth through Advance CTE’s Vision, CTE without Limits. 
  • Advanced leadership skills, including the ability to lead with and apply an equity lens, with a particular focus on expanding access and delivering programs equitably to those who most need them. 

• Connect each Advance CTE - ECMC Fellow in meaningful ways to a diverse network of CTE, education and workforce leaders to build their social capital and increase their visibility at the national level. 

Fellowship Components, Expectations and Benefits

This Fellowship was launched to address a critical need for more diverse representation across state postsecondary CTE institutions. Through their participation, Fellows will join a growing talent pipeline of state-level postsecondary CTE leaders fiercely committed to creating an accessible and racially just postsecondary CTE system. Through one-on-one coaching, participating in a series of 8 virtual workshops and completing a real-world project capstone,  each Fellow will gain an understanding of effective policies and practices for improving postsecondary CTE outcomes. Curriculum topics and mentoring will provide opportunities for Fellows to engage with real-world application of these concepts and how they could effectively replicate them at scale. They will identify their leadership strengths and understand how to strategically leverage those strengths to influence their respective postsecondary state CTE systems to achieve more effective and equitable practices. Fellows will build confidence, visibility and their national network that will extend beyond the 15-month Fellowship. Upon completion of the Fellowship, Fellows will be better positioned for postsecondary CTE leadership roles such as State CTE Director, state-level leaders and institutional leaders.

Eligibility

• This Fellowship will be relevant and open to individuals in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.
• Candidates must be equipped to engage with the virtual platform of the Fellowship as the workshops will be delivered virtually. Qualified applicants self-identifying with racial/ethnic identities who are historically under-represented in postsecondary CTE leadership will be prioritized in the recruitment process.
• This Fellowship is designed to help mid-level professionals who possess a deep knowledge of and experience in CTE to advance to careers within state postsecondary CTE systems.
• For the purposes of this Fellowship, Advance CTE does not consider leadership roles in secondary education focused on early postsecondary opportunities (e.g. dual or concurrent enrollment) to be part of a state postsecondary CTE system.
• This Fellowship welcomes individuals with diverse career pathways but is not designed for those who are new to CTE or have limited years of service in CTE, education or workforce development.
• We welcome applicants from state departments of education, higher education, labor and workforce; administrators and educators from four-year colleges, community colleges, technical centers and K-12; professionals from non-profits and Career Technical Student Organizations; and industry experts.
  
  

Fellow Expectations 

Fellows will:

• Actively participate in all aspects of the Fellowship, a 15-month program, which begins September 2024 and ends December 2025.
  Participate in all eight, virtual workshops scheduled from 1 - 5 p.m. ET during the business week.
• Participate in monthly, hour-long coaching sessions.
• Complete a real-world Fellowship project (more details below). 
• Commit approximately 10-12 hours per month to complete Fellowship-related activities including workshops, coaching and related work.
• Participate in (and potentially present at) an Advance CTE annual meeting (partial travel stipend provided).
• Participate in the ECMC CTE Leadership Collaborative Convening (full travel stipend provided).
• Agree that all materials developed as part of the Fellowship, including those developed for the Fellowship project, are considered to be in the public domain; will be shared with Advance CTE; and may be featured in case studies, briefs and/or webinars.
  
  

Real-World Fellowship Project: 

Each Fellow will complete a real-world project that aligns with their career progression goals. The intent of this project is for Fellows to apply their knowledge gained through the Fellowship and make a meaningful impact in their community. 

• Project Criteria

  • The project’s scope must be directly relevant to postsecondary CTE, examples of projects might include launching a new advisement program, conducting an equity audit of their CTE programs, creating an equity plan to close identified gaps or developing and launching a marketing campaign to engage marginalized learners.  

  • The project must be accomplishable in the timeframe of the Fellowship

  • The objective of the project should reflect a desire to demonstrate leadership in the school, college, district or system the Fellow works in.

• Project Timeline

  • As part of the application process, each Fellow will identify a topic or challenge related to postsecondary CTE that they’d like to address during the Fellowship.

  • Once they’ve been matched with their coach, Fellows will create a project proposal that identifies the topic of their real-world project. This proposal will demonstrate alignment with their career progression goals, address the topic/challenge identified in their application, and demonstrate a measurable and meaningful impact focused on closing equity gaps. 

  • To receive the first half of the stipend, the Fellow's project proposal must be approved by Advance CTE Staff. 

  • Each Fellow will be responsible for coordinating monthly meetings with their coach. During these meetings, Fellows will discuss the progress of their project and other professional development goals.

  • A mid-project check-in will be held for Fellows to share updates on their projects with peers, coaches, and Advance CTE staff.

    • As a note, the curriculum and workshop topics have also been curated to support the Fellow’s development and execution of their real-world projects.

    • Fellows will also be assigned a fellow accountability buddy within the Cohort and have the option of coordinating Fellow-led work groups.

  • At the end of the cohort experience, each Fellow will produce a 10-page white paper and give a presentation on the progress and outcomes of their project to a panel of experts from the field.

  • Fellows will have the opportunity to integrate feedback from this presentation as they prepare for their poster session at Advance CTE's Fall Meeting (October 2025)

Fellowship Benefits

As part of their participation in the Fellowship, Fellows will receive:

High-Quality Curriculum and Workshops: 

This Fellowship will focus on Fellows building the following competencies through the curriculum and workshops. Fellows will learn to:

• Lead with a racial equity lens.
• Have a strategic mindset.
• Be a strong advocate.
• Build trusting and impactful relationships/partnerships.
• Commit to high-quality policies and programs.

• Be data-driven.

The workshops and curriculum have been designed with input from the National Advisory Committee. Components include:

• Understanding institutional barriers and systemic racism in CTE.
• Developing a racial equity lens.
• Expanding data and accountability models that value collaboration, equity and innovation.
• Designing equitable postsecondary CTE funding models.
• Building cohesive, flexible and responsive career pathways that help learners actualize their aspirations.
• Advancing learner-centered career navigation and support structures.
• Promoting meaningful public-private partnerships.
  
  

Coaching: 

Each Fellow will be assigned a coach. To the extent possible, coaches and Fellows will be matched based on the Fellow’s stated areas of interest and growth, as well as demographic and geographic preferences. Coaches will have expert-level knowledge in the Fellowship’s core competencies and will provide monthly support related to the Fellowship’s competencies, guidance on the projects and just-in-time professional coaching-style support.

Opportunities to Build a Network and Gain Visibility: 

Fellows will engage Advance CTE’s network in person as well as during virtual professional opportunities to learn more about the national CTE landscape from state and national organization partners. Every Fellow will meet with an Advance CTE staff member to complete an interview to be featured in a blog that will be circulated in Advance CTE’s monthly membership newsletter.
Fellows will build their professional network and gain visibility for their work by attending at least one of the organization’s annual meetings (typically occurring in the spring and fall). 

• Registration fees will be covered and a partial travel stipend will be offered. 

• Based on their real-world project topic, select Fellows may be invited to present their projects on Advance CTE webinars and/or be featured in case studies or reports, promoting their work to a national audience to continue to build their visibility.

• Additionally, Fellows will be required to attend a yearly CTE Leadership Collaborative Convening hosted by ECMC Foundation, which will pay for travel expenses.

Stipend: 

Fellows will receive a $2,000 stipend upon approval of the Fellowship project proposal. This will be delivered in two disbursements; half once the project proposals are approved and the remainder upon completion of the Fellowship.