My name is Allie Pearce, and I am so excited to join Advance CTE as the 2021-2022 Graduate Fellow, helping to advance the organization’s federal policy priorities and initiatives. My work will be anchored in the organization’s federal policy agenda, specifically the reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). While completing this fellowship, I will also lead work centered on federal stimulus funding and equity-based initiatives. 
I am currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Educational Transformation at Georgetown University, with a concentration in Advocacy and Policy. My experiences allow me to approach Career Technical Education (CTE) from an education policy perspective. While attending Grinnell College in my home state of Iowa, I volunteered on a local school bond campaign and worked as a preschool teaching assistant. From there, I worked for a variety of organizations, including the Learning Policy Institute; the Food Research and Action Center; and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. Through these opportunities, I examined issues of equity and access in public education through policy research and advocacy. 
Increasing equity and access to high-quality CTE will be more important than ever as the labor market continues to respond to the persisting skills gap and systemic inequities exacerbated by COVID-19. I am humbled to join Advance CTE at such a critical time, and I look forward to being a part of innovative systemic change.
In my free time I enjoy visiting the national monuments, hiking with my two dogs, checking in virtually with my family back in Iowa and watching women’s college basketball (go Hawkeyes!).
Allie Pearce, Graduate Fellow