Being the first community college graduate to become a Rhodes Scholar was personally transformative and inspires my passion as a tireless community college advocate to our legislators and a determined champion for cutting-edge trustee education. As Alum and Trustee at College of DuPage, I represent 1.2M residents and 25K students at one of the largest community colleges and was awarded the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Outstanding Alumni Award. As a National Science Foundation Fellow, I have served in executive leadership positions at technology companies and have served on the ACCT Public Policy Committee. Moreover, I serve as an Executive Officer (Secretary) for the Illinois Community College Trustee Association (ICCTA). I also spearheaded bridge-scholarship programs to support students with autism nationally, which I presented at the ACCT Leadership Congress. As noted in my keynote address for Community College Day at the National Science Foundation, I believe community colleges represent the most important institution in our nation for transforming lives through accessible education and opportunity.