In Response to Joy: Culturally Responsive Student Supports

SSSC26 Session Description

This session provides practical examples drawn from the Career Ladders Project’s Equitable Counseling initiative, statewide practitioner convenings, and partnerships with community colleges working to redesign student support through a culturally responsive and equity-minded lens. Presenters will share real examples from colleges that have shifted counseling, onboarding, advising, and/or student support practices to be more relationship-centered, culturally responsive, and accessible to students from historically minoritized communities.

Participants will be introduced to practical tools such as student journey mapping, culturally responsive communication practices, relationship-centered advising approaches, and “small shifts” in everyday interactions that can significantly improve students’ sense of belonging and ability to navigate college systems. Examples will include changes to onboarding processes, advising approaches, and cross-department collaboration that better align services with students’ cultural contexts and lived experiences. This session will focus on concrete practices and institutional changes that colleges can implement to improve student success, belonging, persistence, and completion.

Presenters
Byron Reaves, Director, Career Ladders Project
Tommy Reed, UMOJA Counselor/Coordinator, Chabot College
Monique Greene, Counselor, Riverside City College