College Possible Minnesota, Senior Director of Programs, BG Tucker has been selected to present at the National College Attainment Network (NCAN) annual conference. NCAN is a nonprofit membership and advocacy association with the mission to support members, influence leaders, organizations, policies, and systems across the country to increase equity and excellence in postsecondary degree access and attainment. “As a member of NCAN,” says BG, “College Possible benefits from real-time updates within the high school access and college success landscape, incredible training opportunities for our staff, and connections to legislatures who influence policy that directly impacts the students we serve. NCAN is an invaluable resource and advocate for our organization.”
Originally from Virginia, BG Tucker joined College possible Minnesota in 2022. She attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, and then joined Teach for America in Gary, Indiana. Tucker is one of the founding college counselors at KIPP Academy Lynn Collegiate (KALC) in Lynn, Massachusetts where she went on to become the director of college counseling while supporting KALC’s first two graduating classes. After several years working in college access in London, UK, BG returned to the United States to serve as director of college and career counseling at Venture Academy, a single-site charter school in Minneapolis before joining the team at College Possible Minnesota.
The conference
The NCAN conference is an incredible support to the work that College Possible Minnesota takes on every day; it offers training sessions and collaborative discussions dedicated to addressing systemic barriers experienced by first-generation college students. “The atmosphere at the NCAN is unparalleled,” says BG. “It provides valuable opportunities for networking, sharing best practices, and forming partnerships that can lead to meaningful changes for College Possible. For me, the NCAN conference is a catalyst for progress in college access and success, bringing together a rich community dedicated to ensuring all students have the opportunity to achieve their higher education goals.”
The presentation
BG’s presentation, titled “Navigating Tomorrow: Unlocking College Success with Overgrad Innovation,” provides a comprehensive overview of the Overgrad Pilot implementation, focusing on the collaboration between College Possible Minnesota and Overgrad to enhance college success for the students we serve. “The primary goals of the pilot program included empowering students with data-driven college lists, streamlining coach workflows, and improving data utilization” says BG. The talk outlines the strategies and successes achieved during the pilot, along with the challenges faced and the solutions implemented to overcome them. It emphasizes the importance of change management, trust-building, and stakeholder engagement in successfully adopting new technology. BG concludes by highlighting key takeaways and recommendations for future implementations, emphasizing the need for clear goal setting, ongoing progress monitoring, and a focus on outcomes and impact.
