Connie Saenz of Perry has been hired as the new Local College Access Networks (LCANs) Coordinator at the DMACC VanKirk Career Academy in Perry, the school announced Thursday.
“I’m a big believer that college is for everyone and that’s exactly what this initiative does,” Saenz said.
The goal of LCANs is to increase postsecondary education rates and create a
college-going culture in communities across Iowa. The initiative supports the Future Ready Iowa goal of seeing 70% of Iowans with education beyond high school by 2025.
The VanKirk Career Academy received a five-year grant to use the collective impact framework that brings leaders together from all sectors of the community to increase college readiness and college enrollment and develop a work-ready population. The local program has been titled Future Ready Perry.
“LCANs bridges the gap between high school and postsecondary education,” Saenz said. “By helping students prepare, we make it possible for them to reach their college and career goals.”
As LCAN Coordinator, Saenz will develop a cross-sector team of local community leaders to collaborate and promote a college-ready culture. The goal is to provide for career readiness while meeting workforce needs of the local Perry community. In addition to serving as the DMACC LCAN coordinator, Saenz will continue to advise adult students at the VanKirk Career Academy.
“No single organization can tackle the educational challenges alone,” said Eddie Diaz, site director at the VanKirk Career Academy. “Connie’s experience as a GEAR UP advisor, her two years with DMACC and her relationship-building skills make her the perfect candidate to bring together leaders to help tackle some of these challenges.”
Diaz also acknowledged the help the VanKirk Career Academy received from Perry Economic Development, the city of Perry, Perry community schools and the project funder, Iowa College Aid, in obtaining the grant.
Anne Thomas from Iowa College Aid said Saenz will be a welcomed addition to the Perry community.
“We at Iowa College Aid are really excited to support Future Ready Perry through an LCAN grant,” Thomas said. “We feel like this could serve as a model for LCAN in addressing the intersection between higher education and workforce needs.”
Saenz is a graduate of the University of Denver with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. She obtained a master’s degree in business administration from Purdue University. In the field of education, Saenz served as the College Access Counselor at Perry High School, leading the GEAR UP program. She joined the DMACC at Perry VanKirk Career Academy staff in 2020 as a part-time academic advisor for adult students.
Saenz said one of the first items she intends to tackle is building a leadership team to implement the collective impact framework championed by LCAN. She can be reached at 515-428-8100 or caoliversaenz@dmacc.edu.
