2026 Highlights - A Dream Deferred™ and Historically Black Colleges and Universities Conferences 2027

Washington Black embodies the power of historical narrative to transform how we see the past—illuminating resilience, intellect, and joy even amid even the most difficult histories. In Wash’s extraordinary journey from enslavement to self-discovery, author Esi Edugyan reveals a world of imagination, curiosity, and possibility. As a literary cartographer, she navigates us through complexity, translating rough terrain into understanding. This conversation, featuring clips from the Hulu adaptation, invites us to explore history with honesty and creativity and to empower students to think boldly and dream without limits.

Esi Edugyan, Bestselling Author, Novelist and Essayist

Esi Edugyan is a Canadian novelist and essayist, acclaimed for her richly imaginative and historically rooted storytelling. Born in Calgary, Alberta, she is the author of several novels, including Half-Blood Blues (2011), which won the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, and Washington Black (2018), which was also awarded the Giller Prize and shortlisted for the Booker, the Andrew Carnegie Medal, and the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. Edugyan’s work often explores themes of identity, freedom, and belonging, with a focus on overlooked histories of the African diaspora. She is widely regarded as one of Canada’s most important contemporary voices in literature.

Join National Geographic Explorer in Residence and storyteller Tara Roberts as she shares insights from her book Written in the Waters. Roberts sets off on a life-changing journey across three continents with a group of Black scuba divers of all ages to uncover sunken history from the Middle Passage. Through powerful stories of discovery and resilience, Roberts explores how uncovering buried histories can inspire belonging, understanding, and learning. She’ll also discuss her documentary Clotilda: The Return Home. It follows the descendants of the founders of Africatown (near Mobile, Ala.) as they trace their roots to the survivors of the last American slave ship and fulfill their ancestors’ dream of returning home to Africa.

Written in the Waters offers an immersive experience through storytelling as marine science, archaeology, and history converge to shed new light on the past and inspire new understanding.

Tara Roberts, National Geographic Explorer in Residence and Storyteller

Tara Roberts, a National Geographic Explorer and storyteller, joined a team of mostly Black scuba divers to search for slave shipwrecks, documenting the journey in the acclaimed podcast Into the Depths, funded by the National Geographic Society. The series garnered nearly 500,000 downloads and appeared on “best of” lists from Essence and Spotify. Roberts made history as the first Black female explorer on the cover of National Geographic, reaching over 26 million readers, and was named the 2022 Rolex National Geographic Explorer of the Year—the first Black American to receive the honor. Her work has featured on CNN, GMA, PBS, BET, NPR, and more. She also contributed to the documentary Clotilda: The Return Home, chronicling descendants of the last U.S. slave ship as they journey back to their ancestral homeland.

From the gridiron to Goldman Sachs, Justin Tuck’s journey reflects the power of discipline, teamwork, and vision. A two-time Super Bowl champion and now Managing Director of Wealth Management at Goldman Sachs, Tuck exemplifies how preparation and purpose create lasting impact. In this moderated conversation, he explores leadership, representation, and access—sharing how success in academics and athletics need not be mutually exclusive. As co-founder of R.U.S.H. for Literacy, a foundation that encourages low-income youth to R.U.S.H. (read, understand, succeed, and hope), Tuck’s work to advance literacy and financial education aligns with College Board’s investment in career-focused AP® courses, such as AP Business with Personal Finance and AP Cybersecurity, connecting academic excellence with workforce readiness. His story challenges educators to help students dream beyond perceived limits and build pathways toward success in every field.

Justin Tuck, Former All-Pro NFL Player and Managing Director at Goldman Sachs

Justin Tuck is a former professional football player who was a defensive end in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Notre Dame and was drafted by the New York Giants in the third round of the 2005 NFL Draft, winning two Super Bowl titles with the team, both against the New England Patriots. He also played for the Oakland Raiders.

Tuck is a dedicated and impactful philanthropist, successfully leveraging his public image to launch educational platforms and literacy initiatives that close the opportunity gap for low-income youth. He and his wife Lauran established Tuck’s R.U.S.H. for Literacy, a foundation focused on encouraging low-income youth to “Read, Understand, Succeed and Hope.” The foundation earned a spot as the only athlete-founded organization at the 2016 Clinton Global Initiative.

Tuck sits on the board of the Pure Edge Foundation, which is focused on bringing health and wellness to underrepresented children, and The Vera Institute of Justice whose mission is to drive change and urgently build and improve justice systems that ensure fairness, promote safety and strengthen communities. His philanthropic work has earned him prestigious honors and awards, including the Jefferson Foundation Award, the Nicholas Scoppetta Child Welfare Award, the Harvey G. Foster Award, and the HELP USA Humanitarian Award. He also authored an autobiographical children’s book, Home Field Advantage.

Tuck joined Goldman Sachs as a private wealth advisor in 2018 after earning an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and an undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame.

This main stage session brings together leaders in education for a forward-looking K–16 conversation rooted in relevance, reach, and readiness. Together, they will explore how educators across roles—teachers, counselors, administrators, and institutional leaders—can build pathways that help African American students thrive academically while connecting them to meaningful career opportunities. Each speaker will share how their institution is thinking broadly and boldly about the future, reimagining student-centered pathways and expanding opportunity in a rapidly changing landscape. As our nation marks its 250th anniversary, this session invites us to reflect on the future we are shaping for the students we serve. The discussion will examine how educators and institutions can collaborate to expand access, strengthen talent pipelines, nurture entrepreneurship, and design pathways that prepare the next generation of changemakers to enter college, careers, and community with purpose.

Dr. Kedra Ishop, Senior Vice President, Higher Education, Membership, and Access, & Secretary of the Corporation, College Board

In this role, Kedra leads efforts that engage, support, deepen relationships with, and mobilize our members to broadly advance access and opportunity for students. Working with constituents across K−12 and higher education, she directs our work with our higher education partners. She and her higher education, financial aid, and membership teams ensure that College Board meets the needs of our diverse member institutions and the students they serve. She also oversees all matters relating to our governance structure and Board of Trustees.

Kedra has spent her entire career in higher education. She began her career in admissions at the University of Texas at Austin, concluding her service there as vice provost and director of admissions after 17 years. She left UT Austin to join the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, where she served as the school’s first vice provost for enrollment management. She joined College Board after serving at the University of Southern California as vice president for enrollment management for four years. Throughout her career, she has advanced a student-centered vision while overseeing offices of admission, financial aid, orientation and first year enrollment, marketing and communication, and registrar.

Kedra is a nationally recognized expert, speaker, and advisor on issues in higher education focused on issues of access and opportunity for low-income students and students of traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, recruitment and enrollment practices, legal and policy issues in admissions and enrollment, and assessment and curriculum development. She has served and serves on numerous boards and organizations that support student access, educational policy, and student success. She holds three degrees from the University of Texas at Austin: a BA in sociology, an MEd in higher education administration, and a PhD in educational administration. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.

Dr. Michael A. Baston, President, Cuyahoga Community College

Michael Baston is the fifth president of Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) in Cleveland, Ohio. He is a national thought leader on the role of community colleges in shaping educational success, supporting regional workforce needs and economic growth, championing diversity, opportunity and inclusion reforms, and developing executive leadership teams. As Tri-C president, Baston focuses on strengthening the College’s mission of providing high-quality, affordable and accessible education and services. Since becoming president in July 2022, he has promoted access and success for the 41,000 credit and noncredit students attending Tri-C’s four campuses and other locations throughout the Cleveland area.

Dr. Melva K. Wallace, President, Huston Tillotson University

Dr. Melva K. Wallace, the seventh president and CEO of Huston-Tillotson University (HT), has over 20 years of experience in higher education. Under her leadership, HT has seen significant growth in fundraising and enrollment, including a 55% male student population and increased international, graduate, and online student numbers. Known as "mkwthe7th" on social media, she has raised over $20 million in grants and gifts. Recognized by former Presidents George H. W. Bush, George W. Bush, and William J. Clinton, Dr. Wallace co-founded the Higher Education Leadership Foundation, trained over 500 HBCU leaders, and served as vice president and president of the Shreveport Charter Foundation. She holds degrees from Grambling State University and Jackson State University and co-created "The Business of Trap Music" course with rapper T.I. Follow her on Instagram at mkwthe7th.

Dr. Tony B. Watlington, Sr. Ed.D., Superintendent, School District of Philadelphia

Dr. Tony B. Watlington Sr. was appointed superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia, the nation’s 8th largest school district with nearly 200,000 students, on April 1, 2022, and was sworn in on June 16, 2022. A collaborative and results-oriented leader, Dr. Watlington, began his tenure by launching an aggressive Entry Plan composed of 3 phases. Phase one included a listening and learning tour with 90 sessions in his first 100 days, phase 2 included a Transition Team composed of 100 diverse Philadelphians and K-12 national experts who issued a formal report with short and long-term recommendations, and phase 3 includes the development of an aggressive 5-year strategic planning process to position the school district to become the fastest improving large, urban school district in the country.

Under Superintendent Watlington’s leadership, the School District of Philadelphia outpaces other large urban districts nationwide and similar districts in Pennsylvania for math in grades 3-8 and reading in grades 3-8 based on the Education Recovery Scorecard, a report released by Harvard University’s Center for Education Policy Research and The Educational Opportunity Project at Stanford University. This report included 30 states representing about 60% of the national public school student population.

A Dream Deferred™ and Historically Black Colleges and Universities Conferences 2027

March 10—12, 2027