New CCHALES Report
From Intent to Impact: Implementing Race-Conscious, Equity-Driven Change
Written by lead authors Dr. Maria Luz Espino and Chloe Marie Garcia, with the support of Eric R. Felix, this report highlights how equity leaders in our SEPI Collective developed and implemented race-conscious student equity plans to improve the conditions, experiences, and outcomes of Black and Latinx students.
Our report centers the voices of thirteen equity advocates within our SEPI Collective, representing a wide range of community college professionals dedicated to advancing student equity across different institutional settings. From Intent to Impact begins with the context behind efforts to advance student equity in the California Community Colleges and our collaborative work (SEPI) in those endeavors with 17 campuses. Intent: We share what colleagues planned to achieve between the 2022-2025 plan cycle to improve equity conditions on campus. Influence: The internal and external factors shaping the implementation of those plans, including leadership support, shared governance, and the surrounding sociopolitical climate. Impact: Ultimately, the progress and success made, describing tangible outcomes emerging from equity work, including cultural shifts, coalition-building, and improved equity metrics. We conclude with actionable insights built from what we have learned in working with equity advocates to advance their efforts to improve racial justice.
Here’s what our report authors have to say about what you’ll read and take away:
Dra. Espino: This report stands as a testament to the power of transformative, intentional equity work. As a queer woman of color and first-generation college student, I know intimately the weight of navigating institutions that were not built with people like me in mind. I experienced the invisibility, the exhaustion of code-switching, and the hunger for spaces where I could simply belong on a college campus. What emerges from these pages is a portrait of dedicated practitioners who understand that advancing racial equity is not abstract policy work. Advancing racial equity is a deeply personal commitment to ensuring that students carrying multiple marginalized identities no longer must choose between survival and success. I hope that readers will see themselves in these stories and recognize that this work demands courageous leadership, sustainable institutional investment, and a collective willingness to dismantle the very systems that have historically excluded us. Community colleges have the power to be engines of equity and liberation.
Chloe Marie: While working in community colleges, I've witnessed how education can genuinely change students' lives and create pathways to social mobility. This report documents the real successes and challenges in advancing equity, while also honestly naming the need for consistency, advocacy, and transparency at every level of our institutions. I hope it serves as a call to action and roadmap, so that others can learn from our collective journey toward equity that's not performative, but structural and sustainable.