ANCHOR ACTION SUMMIT
2027 Anchor Action Summit: Economic Engines of Opportunity
This two-day, virtual experience includes a keynote presentation and a panel discussion from guest presenters that are open to the public. Stay tuned for more details coming in 2027.
2026 Anchor Action Summit: Strengthening the Workforce
This two-day, virtual experience includes a keynote presentation and a panel discussion from guest presenters that are open to the public.
Keynote: Urban colleges and universities as workforce anchors: Preparing talent and powering communities
Presented by Wil Del Pilar, senior vice president, Ed Trust
Opening remarks by Peter Slee, vice chancellor, Leeds Beckett University; CUMU Board of Directors
Urban and metropolitan campuses have a unique workforce mission because of their proximity to communities and employers. But proximity is not the same as alignment. This session center around three questions: Are we preparing students for jobs or careers? Are we genuinely responsive to local workforce needs? Do we hire and develop local talent ourselves?
Resources from this session:
Class Dismissed: When Colleges Ignore Inequality and Students Pay the Price, Anthony Abraham Jack
Peter Slee, is vice chancellor at Leeds Beckett University. Peter was educated at the University of Reading, gained his PhD in modern history from the University of Cambridge and was a postdoctoral fellow at Manchester and Durham. He is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, fellow of the Higher Education Academy and an award-winning author, teacher and trainer. Peter joined Leeds Beckett from the University of Huddersfield where he had been deputy vice chancellor since 2010. He has held a number of senior roles in higher education management at Northumbria, Durham and Aston universities and at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) where he was head of education policy.
Wil Del Pilar, Ph.D., serves as Ed Trust’s Senior Vice President. In this role, Wil spearheads Ed Trust’s mission to highlight inequities and outline solutions in order to improve access, success, affordability, and completion in higher education for low-income students and students of color. Wil has experience at the federal, state and institutional levels. Prior to joining Ed Trust, he served as deputy secretary of postsecondary and higher education for the Pennsylvania Department of Education, where he implemented the strategic vision for higher education in the commonwealth. Additionally, he has worked at the University of Florida and Pennsylvania State University where he led development activities and also served in admissions and financial aid roles at Chapman University, the University of California Santa Cruz and Loyola Marymount University.
Panel discussion: Aligning with industry to strengthen the workforce
Moderated by Debra Humphreys, vice president of strategic engagement, Lumina Foundation
This session highlights innovative approaches to align postsecondary pathways, employer partnerships and community engagement strategies to support workforce development. Presenters share how student-facing initiatives, campus-community collaboration and deep knowledge of industry needs result in student success in the workforce and stronger communities. A panel discussion explores how these distinct strategies can be adapted and scaled across diverse urban and regional contexts.
You can find information about Lumina’s research as well as videos from the Focus Magazine on Lumina’s homepage.
Debra Humphreys, Ph.D., directs efforts related to student success in attaining high-quality four-year college degrees at Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. She also oversees the foundation’s strategic communications team, working to influence national narratives about learning beyond high school.
Before joining Lumina in late 2016, she served as senior vice president for academic planning and public engagement at the Association of American Colleges & Universities. She also served as director of programs in the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Global Initiatives at AAC&U, where she directed programs on diversity, equity, and women’s issues in higher education.
Humphreys has decades of experience in higher education reform focused on improving teaching and learning, curricular redesign, state and federal policy, and quality assurance. In her work with higher education institutions, she has conducted academic leadership and faculty workshops on teaching and learning, focusing especially on reform of general education and diversity courses and requirements.
Humphreys earned a bachelor’s degree in art history from Williams College and master’s and doctoral degrees in English from Rutgers University. She serves on the editorial advisory board of Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning and on the board of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.
This presentation challenges the traditional “workforce pipeline” by introducing an Ecosystem of Intentionality designed to cultivate a more resilient and committed workforce. Through the lens of the PIN Summer Internship and PIN Fellowship, attendees will explore how community-driven innovation projects and intentional social capital exchange can empower students and professionals to move beyond rigid career tracks and become “innovation-ready” catalysts for the region.
About the presenter
Cody M. Cocchi, Ed.D., is the programs manager for the Partnership for Innovation at Georgia Tech, where he leads the PIN Summer Internship and PIN Fellowship. As an innovation catalyst, Cody connects innovative students and professionals with regional organizations to build community capacity and drive impactful change. Prior to this role, Cody served at the College of Coastal Georgia, where he led service-learning and undergraduate research initiatives and developed the competency-based engagement program, Endeavor. A lifelong learner and Georgia native, he holds a doctorate in leadership from Valdosta State University, an M.A. from Georgia Southern, and a B.A. from Georgia State. Beyond his professional work, Cody serves on several community boards and enjoys landscaping, attending sporting events and spending time at the beach with his wife and their dog, Gemma.
Presented by Kayla Sims, program manager, Steans Center, DePaul University
Most students from experiential programs have demonstrable capabilities but lack the professional language to explain them in ways employers recognize. This session introduces the Capability Assessment, a behavioral instrument designed to bridge that gap by mapping student experiences to NACE Career Readiness Competencies and generating individualized professional profiles. Attendees will learn how the tool works and how it equips students to connect their lived experience to workforce expectations.
About the presenter
Kayla Sims, MA is a program designer and student success practitioner at the Steans Center at DePaul University. As a first-generation college student, she understands the gaps in support and resources available to students from nontraditional backgrounds. Rooting her work in providing the resources, advocacy and opportunities she didn’t have during her own college years, she runs a community service scholarship program. Through an asset-based lens, she developed the capability assessment, designed to help students connect their academic and service learning experiences to the demands of the current workforce. Before joining DePaul, she directed nonviolence initiatives with a teen digital media organization and taught middle school math at her neighborhood public school. Her educational background includes a bachelor’s degree in writing, rhetoric and discourse from DePaul University and a master’s degree in urban education from the University of Chicago.
Presented by Maurie Smith, managing director, Keystone LifeSci Collaborative
This presentation introduces industry partnerships as a strategic amplifier for workforce development, centering employer needs to design and scale programs that connect job seekers to good-paying careers in high-growth sectors like life sciences and healthcare. It outlines how partnerships function as a flashlight, switchboard, and launchpad — diagnosing system gaps, connecting the right actors, and moving from insight to collective action. The talk highlights real initiatives underway in the Philadelphia region, from community college biotech curriculum to executive leadership pipelines, as proof points for what industry-led, regionally tailored workforce systems can achieve.
About the presenter
Maurie Smith is the inaugural Managing Director of the Keystone LifeSci Collaborative, bringing over a decade of expertise in anchor-based economic development. Appointed in 2024, Smith’s role is pivotal in advancing KLSC’s life sciences initiatives, focusing on policy, programmatic, and infrastructure development. She is dedicated to expanding KLSC’s influence across Greater Philadelphia by engaging life science leaders and fostering partnerships with public, private, and community stakeholders.
Prior to KLSC, Smith was a Vice President at U3 Advisors, a national consulting firm, where she led the Organizational Design and Capacity Building Practice Area. Earlier in her career, she was a Project Manager at Cooper’s Ferry Partnership in Camden, NJ, where she spearheaded economic and community development projects.
Smith holds a Masters in City Planning from the University of Pennsylvania.
THANK YOU TO OUR TITLE SPONSOR
2025 Anchor Learning Network Action Summit: Thriving Neighborhoods
CUMU members and non-members explore how urban and metropolitan campuses can help build thriving neighborhoods through place-based strategies, partnerships, and innovation during this two-day virtual summit.
Keynote: Connecting for success: New opportunities for economic mobility in the places you anchor
Presented by Carol Coletta, Bloomberg Fellow in Public Innovation, Johns Hopkins University
Anchor institutions connect with their communities in many ways that add value. But there is one opportunity for connection that has outsized value and requires surprisingly few resources. And it’s one you may be overlooking. Carol Coletta will share what decades of planning, funding, and managing public space have revealed about its remarkable potential to spark more happiness and more economic opportunity. It’s all about connecting.
Carol Coletta is a national figure in the revitalization of cities and public spaces. She is currently a Bloomberg Fellow in Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University.
Beginning in 2017, she served as president and CEO of Memphis River Parks Partnership, a public-private partnership responsible for six miles along the Mississippi River in downtown Memphis. Recently, the Partnership celebrated the opening of Tom Lee Park, transforming 31 acres of flat monoculture into a lush, sustainable park. Designed by Studio Gang and SCAPE, the park is the centerpiece of the Memphis riverfront and a national model for welcoming and ecologically restorative urban parks.
Carol has previously served in a variety of roles, including as senior fellow in the American Cities Practice at The Kresge Foundation where she led a $50+ million national collaboration to Reimagine the Civic Commons.
Panel discussion: Thriving neighborhoods
Presented by John Pattison, Strong Towns; Mark Overmyer-Velázquez and Wiley Dawson, UConn Hartford; Kristi M. King, University of Louisville
This session highlights innovative, place-based approaches to building stronger, healthier, and more resilient communities. Presenters share how small-scale public investments, campus-community collaboration, and applied learning projects are transforming infrastructure, advancing student success, and promoting health and well-being. A panel discussion explores how these distinct strategies can be adapted and scaled across diverse urban and regional contexts.
John Pattison is the Community Builder for Strong Towns. In this role, he works with advocates in hundreds of communities as they start and lead local Strong Towns groups called Local Conversations. John is the author of two books, most recently Slow Church (IVP), which takes inspiration from Slow Food and the other Slow movements to help faith communities reimagine how they live life together in the neighborhood. He also co-hosts The Membership, a podcast inspired by the life and work of Wendell Berry, the Kentucky farmer, writer, and activist. John and his family live in Silverton, Oregon.
Dr. Mark Overmyer-Velázquez is the inaugural dean and chief administrative officer of the University of Connecticut-Hartford, where he is a professor of history and Latine studies. Serving 3500 students, UConn Hartford is a federally designated Minority Serving Institution with a mission of academic excellence focused on community-based, collaborative learning. The first Latino elected official in West Hartford, CT, he served a six-year term as a member and chair of the West Hartford Board of Education. He continues to be an active leader in civic and educational organizations, serving on the Boards of Directors of the Hartford Public Library and the MetroHartford Alliance. He also chairs both the Greater Hartford Consortium for Higher Education and the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving.
Wiley Dawson is the assistant director of the Center for Career Readiness and Life Skills at the University of Connecticut-Hartford, where he also serves as a Ph.D. student in educational leadership with a concentration in higher education, racial justice, and decolonization. A proud first-generation college graduate, Wiley earned his Master of Science in counselor education and family therapy from Central Connecticut State University, with a focus on student development in higher education. He has over a decade of experience supporting student success through career development, experiential learning, and culturally responsive programming. He serves on multiple university and community-based committees, advancing initiatives promoting student equity, access, and post-graduate success. He is also an active mentor and collaborator in regional efforts to support men of color and first-generation students throughout Greater Hartford.
Kristi M. King, Ph.D., FACSM, CHES is a professor in the Department of Health and Sport Sciences and a Community Engagement faculty fellow at the University of Louisville. Dr. King conducts community-engaged, interdisciplinary research focused on physical activity and public health. She is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES), a Physical Activity and Public Health research fellow, an America Walks, Walking College fellow, and an American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) fellow. Dr. King serves ACSM as an associate editor for ACSM’s Health & Fitness Journal and as a member on the Health and Science Policy Committee. She’s an active supporter of local efforts to improve walkability, promote active transportation, and connect communities with outdoor and nature-based spaces.