Haverhill, MA (September 1, 2026) — The ’26-27 Academic Year is officially underway at Northern Essex Community College. Faculty were welcomed back with the annual Fall Convocation, held on the Haverhill Campus on September 1. This year’s convocation centered around the theme of Surviving, Striving, and Thriving. Vice President of Academic Affairs Austin Gilliland said the idea for the theme came out of work developing a new academic masterplan. She noted the process highlighted the strength of a shared commitment to students and reinforced the importance of maintaining a student-centered focus in work across the college.
To further underscore the importance of this work and assist in visualizing its execution, the college community welcomed Michaela Leslie-Rule as the convocation keynote speaker. Leslie-Rule is the Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation, author of “How We See Us: Young People Imagining a Path to Their Futures,” and founder of Fig & Sass. Guided by her commitment “to leaving the world better than she found it,” she has dedicated over 15 years to the development of participatory research and collaborative design that help communities shape the conversations and decisions that impact their future. Most recently, she has co-led research on how narrative impacts Black and Hispanic students’ educational experiences.
“What happens when our narratives about young people come into conflict with the narratives that they may have about themselves? What is our responsibility to design for their imaginations and for their brilliance?” Leslie-Rule asked.
She and her research team conducted in-depth interviews, surveys, and focus groups of nearly 4,000 students from Black and Hispanic communities and low-income households in both urban and rural regions across the United States. Their findings reveal familiar themes for much of NECC’s student body: different levels of confidence in their ability to set and meet goals, uncertainty about the steps needed to get to their goals, and a view that they have the singular power to change their lives.
“That leads to two different pieces, two different experiences. One experience is, ‘I’m so proud of myself. I can do anything. I am literally directing my life, right.’ Another experience is, ‘I feel so stressed out. I am the only person that can make any change in my life,’ and it feels almost crippling,” shared Leslie-Rule about the narratives that developed from focus groups.
Convocation attendees spent time examining findings from Leslie-Rule’s focus groups and discussing their responses and how they relate to students at NECC. The college will continue the discussion this fall with a Community of Practice/Book Talk centered on her book.
