Speaker: Doug Cullen
What inspired you to become part of SAAEF?
Doug Cullen: For me, this gave me the opportunity to enhance my knowledge of what was happening within the adult education community, not only here within the state of New Hampshire but also across the country. Part of what I wanted to accomplish was to extend what I was using for information within the secondary space and a little bit of the information I had in the postsecondary space to what I consider to be the middle ground, which is the adult education market. So it gave me an opportunity to really engage with folks that were proficient in many cases and also novice across the country in supporting the adult education world. I also feel that the adult education market and much of the curricula and also the opportunities are highly being ignored. That is certainly the case today. So I feel that for me, becoming a SAAEF member was an opportunity to really expand upon not only my knowledge but really support the state of New Hampshire for a market that genuinely needed it.
What were your biggest accomplishments during your SAAEF fellowship?
Doug Cullen: For me, some of the success stories that I enjoyed was one just meeting with legislators about what adult ed really needs for support. This is really very, very important, certainly for future SAAEF members because they need to understand your legislators don't necessarily understand or appreciate what's happening within the adult education market. More importantly, what's not happening. And I think that education is the continued part of really what the program is all about, certainly to leaders within your community. Also promoting adult ed through various social media platforms. Uh, again, for many folks, adult ed is not something, it's not commonplace for the common individual, and they just don't necessarily understand the value of having adult education within their community. So promoting that on a regular basis, certainly as you're doing continuing events is going to be and was for me very important. I also obtained, as many other states did, a governor proclamation in the fall, promoting adulthood awareness and one just going for that, obtaining that, then putting that out on various social media. As other promotional campaigns I thought was very important and begins the dialogue for many individuals, but for me, the number one thing that I thought was very impactful and a success point was highlighting and publishing a video which was a panel discussion showcasing a successful adult ed career participant. This was somebody that had found her way into the adult education community, had really a very tough life as a results to some political turmoil in her country of origin, found her way into an adult education center, connected to an incredible employer and therefore found an apprenticeship and was on her way. So that was a great video that we had published. And that had seen some national traction as well, so for me, those are the successes that I enjoyed during the program.
What would you like to say to someone in the field who is unsure if they have what it takes to be an advocate?
Doug Cullen: Just some advice I'd like to give to folks that possibly are on the fence as to whether or not they think they have what it takes to be an advocate for their particular state. There's something really important in that statement, which is being an advocate. That's not like being a lobbyist. So, 4 points that I'd like to just bring to the forefront. One is, try something new. Try something that you've always thought of, possibly go outside your comfort zone a little bit. Remember, being an advocate means being a little inventive. It doesn't necessarily mean being experienced in this particular field, and that is the field of advocacy, especially for adult education. However, you're already in, more likely than not, the adult education world. That's why you're expressing an interest to be part of it. So being the advocate for your state is simply a matter of #2, being yourself. That doesn't again mean that you have to be experienced in being an advocate. It just means being yourself. If you were to sit down and have a conversation with somebody that you knew about what it's like to be in adult ed and what the value of it is, you would probably be able to come up with a pretty good conversation and a number of different reasons. That's what you're trying to bring to the forefront of being an advocate within your state. And now just expand upon that. Also lean on, and learn from your colleagues throughout the country. You are not alone in this in any way, shape, or form, and that's another thing that might frighten folks, especially if you're coming from what appears to be a larger state in the United States. You feel as though you're the only person that's actually in this game. You're really not. You have a lot of folks throughout the United States. And the last point I'd like to make is connect with COABE continually for support, counsel, and that includes, if at all possible, attending the annual conference. You're gonna get a lot of ideas, you'll get a lot of suggestions, and you will absolutely not be alone in this whole thing. So remember that as you are considering, do I have what it takes to actually be an advocate, I can almost guarantee that you do.
