A Recap of the President’s Activities, Week of Feb. 28

March 4, 2022 / General NOVA News

Below are a few of the events and activities that President Kress participated in this week.

Monday, Feb. 28:
Dr. Kress delivered introductory remarks for the two final DEI Spotlight events celebrating Black History Month.

Ambassador (and NOVA College Board Member) Joseph Huggins spoke at the Alexandria Campus about his 30-year career in the U.S. Department of State and the importance of impactful representation in American foreign policy. He said, historically, diplomacy has been carried out primarily by white males, and that the way diplomacy was done in the past is now passé as 80% of the world consists of people of color and 50% women. 

Divine 9: The Impact of Historically Black Fraternities and Sororities, a virtual event. Among the panelists were: 

  • Hon. Robin Kelly, U.S. Congresswoman (IL), member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
  • Dr. Belle Wheelan, president of SACSCOC and former Virginia secretary of education and former NOVA president, member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.
  • Hon. Ronald Watson, Maryland state senator, member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc.
  • Ms. Allison Pulliam, national partnership director for independent strategic research collaborative, member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
  • Rev. Dr. Kevin D. Miller, pastor, Carter Community AME Church, Queens, NY, Member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, Inc.

For a full list of all our February Black History Month events, visit this link. 

Tuesday, March 1:

NOVA Foundation President’s Breakfast
The Foundation hosted the “Virtual Roundtable with President Anne Kress for Foundation Leaders.” Among the presenters were Ms. Erin Hogan, vice chair of the NOVA Foundation Board. Dr. Kress shared opening remarks. In addition, Foundation Board Members Rosie O’Neil, Andrew Ko, Kristina Bouweiri and Zuzana Steen were in attendance, as well as student leaders Kundayi Senderayi, Sonia Obaidul and Iyouel Endashaw. Attendees were asked to introduce themselves and answer two questions: What do you know about NOVA? and How can NOVA help assist current opportunities and/or challenges within your organizations? Following Dr. Kress’ presentation, Dr. Richmond Hill, AVP of student support services, discussed programs and initiatives to help ensure student success, including Timely Care, CCAMPIS, Center of Excellence for Veteran Student Success, Single Stop and the Nighthawk Nest campus food pantries. NOVA Online was the campus host of this virtual event, and Dr. Cynthia Pascal, interim AVP of eLearning and director of NOVA Online, shared videos with student testimonials.

Onboarding the newest NOVA College Board Member
Dr. Kress spent time on Tuesday, onboarding the newest College Board Member, Carolyn Welch, appointed to the board in Jan. 2022 by the Falls Church City Council. Ms. Welch has more than 30 years of experience with the Federal Reserve in policy and analysis of consumer protection in financial services and community economic development. Throughout her career, she has engaged in the development and implementation of policies to ensure financial institutions comply with laws that govern fair lending and access to credit and banking services, including implementation of the Community Reinvestment Act that promotes capital investment for affordable housing, small businesses and banking services in lower-income communities. She has also worked to advance financial education, collaborating with other federal agencies to develop the founding strategic plan for the Financial Literacy and Education Commission. As chief of staff for the Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, she supports initiatives to ensure that officials are informed of key issues involving consumer financial services to support their roles in policy making and public engagements. She also co-leads strategic planning and communications initiatives for her division. She holds a degree in Finance from West Virginia University and is a graduate of the Maryland State Bankers School.

Hosted her monthly student Zoom Office Hours: 

March 5 through 7:
American Council on Education (ACE) Annual Meeting, Together We Can, San Diego

Submitted by:
Tykesha Myrick, Chief of Staff, TMyrick@nvcc.edu