EvCC hosts Students of Color Career Conference March 21 

Press Release

Date: Feb. 26, 2024

Volunteers and career panel participants needed

EVERETT, Wash. – Nearly 2,000 middle and high school students from across western Washington will learn about college and career options at Everett Community College’s Students of Color Career Conference March 21. 

Volunteers and participants for career panels are still needed. To sign up, visit EverettCC.edu/SOCCC.

The goal of the conference, now in its 19th year, is to inspire middle and high school students of color to expand their education and career goals. Panel discussions, cultural sharing and a keynote address provide students with the opportunity to explore a diverse range of career options. 

The conference’s focus is students of color, but all middle and high school students from western Washington schools are welcome to participate; students register through their schools.

This year’s keynote speaker is Professor Michael Tuncap, a higher education and non-profit leader who has worked toward racial justice since 1998. Born in Aniguak, Guam, and raised in Tacoma, Wash., Tuncap is a Pacific Islander abolitionist and ethnic studies expert. He is published in Matamai: “The Vasa in Us,” a collection of poems, short stories and art by students of Pacific Islander Studies. He is a three-time delegate to the United Nations in New York City. 

First held in 2003, the conference was the idea of now-retired EvCC accounting instructor Bill Reed in response to changing Snohomish County demographics, education trends and the economic impact of earning a college degree. 

“The conference is a way to motivate and empower middle and high school students of color to dream big and/or expand their dreams, see firsthand role models in charge of programming, meet professionals from a variety of career tracks, and, equally important, believe continuing education is possible for them,” Reed said. 

The 2020 U.S. Census showed that Snohomish County is becoming more diverse, with the number of residents of color increasing 82% between 2010 and 2020, while the number of white residents declined 2%.

In Washington state, 84% of white students and 93% of Asian students graduate from high school in four years, while Native American, Black, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, and multiracial students had lower graduation rates, according to the state’s Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s graduation and dropout statistics for 2022-23. Students of color are also less likely to make the transition from high school to college or the trades. 

The conference went on hiatus from 2020 to 2022, making this the 19th year. 

For more information or to donate to support the event, visit EverettCC.edu/SOCCC.