2020 has been a remarkable year for so many reasons.
Definitely one of the happiest moments for our CEO & Principal Kerry Johnson has been her appointment as a Director to the Board of Community Colleges Australia.
Today we had a quick coffee with Kerry to chat on this topic.
ACE: Kerry, congratulations on your appointment, what an honour.
KJ: “I am more than happy to have been asked to be a Director on the CCA Board. They have done a fantastic job in advocating for the Community College sector over the past several years and particularly in 2020 when all Colleges had to quickly change direction in order to continue to operate and support their students and community.
What really impresses me most about the CCA group is their innovation, flexibility, and enthusiasm for ensuring that training and skilling opportunities really do reach every Australian. That is an incredible task.
I would say CCA’s key achievements this year would be too many to list, but here are my top five:
- Lobbied the NSW Government successfully for $2.3 million for an infrastructure maintenance program for Community Colleges which allowed ACE Community Colleges to completely renovate our 2nd floor training rooms and kitchen. And wow they look great!
- Successfully lobbied the NSW Government for $2 million in COVID-relief funding. At ACE we have been able to use our portion of the grant to upgrade our LMS Canvas so that the student experience is enhanced, and that navigation and ease of use is paramount.
- Successfully lobbied and worked with the NSW Government to develop and release the Adult and Community Education Policy, the first in 12 years.
- Continue to run the highly regarded Community Education Student of the Year Awards – this year via a Zoom event with around 120 people participating. It was fantastic.
- And importantly, throughout the entire pandemic CCA supported the College sector staff through its networking and professional development program running 20 online Zoom sessions.
I am genuinely excited to be a member of the Board and cannot wait to keep building on these achievements into the future”.
ACE: Cheers Kerry, and hats off to CCA and every Community College around the nation for their incredible work in these tricky times.
