Speaker: Angelique Maguire
What inspired you to become part of SAAEF?
Angelique Maguire: Hello, my name is Angelique Mcguire, and I am a an adult education director for Illinois Eastern Community Colleges. What inspired me to become a SAAEF fellow, I've always been appreciative of what COABE does for us as educators, and the opportunities that COABE has provided for our learners. So advocating for adult education has always been at the forefront of what I value most about my career in adult education. And I look for opportunities to engage and connect with other like-minded individuals and people who care about our communities or about their communities, and already pour into our learners on a regular basis and those who want to know more about adult education and what adult education is and then the population that we serve in order to get back. So when I heard about the SAAEF Fellowship, I knew that this would be, or would provide a great avenue to promote awareness of our region, our program, and of our learners. I never imagined the way it would truly impact all of us, on such a grander scale.
What were your biggest accomplishments during your SAAEF fellowship?
Angelique Maguire: So, our biggest accomplishments or my biggest accomplishment, through the SAAEF Fellowship -- I feel that my biggest accomplishment was my Illinois State Advocacy Committee and just connecting with people, being able to see people on a monthly basis from across the state who are like-minded individuals who care about adult education, what adult education has to offer for our learners, for our communities to have um an opportunity to grow and to have the equitability assets of like digital equity, equitability, and the funding equitability and knowing that our rural communities, can compete with our more urban communities and we just, we enjoy learning about one another and growing with each other. Part of what we did through the Illinois State Advocacy Committee was adult education, continuing education workforce development was my platform, was just speaking with one another, educating legislators, learning about funding opportunities. We even secured funding opportunities for some of our communities and some of our organizations. So these, these meetings were a huge accomplishment, I feel, and I think it's a continuing effort, and I'm really enjoying my time spent with my new friends and family. That's what I call them. So that was my number one accomplishment, I feel. And just being able to share that with our students and our community members and to grow them and to bring them on board with what we're doing for adult education, that was paramount. Some of the other accomplishments that our team secured, we secured a proclamation from Governor Pritzker declaring Adult Education and Family Literacy Week, along with several local municipalities. Our efforts were published in the CAEL blog and in, which is the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning organization and in the online journal, CAEL, The Evolution. I was also given a few moments to share about our advocacy efforts through the Rise and Shine podcast with Jeff Abramowitz, so I thank you for that. And one of the legislative champions that we nominated this year, through our advocacy committee team, he received his award at the Capitol and that was Congressman Mike Bost. Thank you for, thank you for allowing me this opportunity to engage and learn more and have those accomplishments.
What would you like to say to someone in the field who is unsure if they have what it takes to be an advocate?
Angelique Maguire: I would like to say that if you are passionate about what you do in adult education and for whom you serve, then you already are an advocate. And well done. Thank you for everything that you do and for your efforts, and for the time that you spend, for going that extra mile. You already are an advocate and a wonderful supporter. I know what it feels like to think I cannot put one more thing on my plate. I don't feel that I have enough time in the day. But then I realized that I wanted to be a part of something, a part of advocacy for positive change. I wanted to bring solutions to our communities, and to our learners. I got tired of telling them that this is just the way it is, or that I'm sorry. I don't have an answer for that. So instead, I chose to ask questions and to engage, and to really listen and bring in great ideas to further enrich my team, our program, our learners, our organizations, and our communities. And in doing so, I realized that so many others had the same questions across the state. Advocacy is really just compiling your efforts, pulling together for something you value and something you believe in, and caring enough to go that extra mile. My simple words of encouragement for you, if you are wondering if you have it in you to be an advocate, is that if you are thinking about it, then you already are. The next step is to take action.
