Oregon TRIO Association

OTA will fulfill its mission and vision by:

1. Improving access to education and career for low-income priority students. Priority students include first-generation students, BIPOC students, students with disabilities, and all other underrepresented student populations.

2. Attaining long-term organizational stability. This will be accomplished by increasing funding sustainability, setting up an exploratory taskforce for board development, restructuring our program membership fee system, and developing a volunteer cadre.

3. Expanding TRIO programs to more Oregon communities statewide, specifically targeting low-income rural communities.

4. Building coalitions of community partners and collaborating with them to enhance programmatic operations.

5. Providing best practices trainings, resources, reporting assistance, and mentoring opportunities for Oregon TRIO staff and programs.

6. Strengthening our partnerships with the Oregon College Access Public Arm, the Higher Education Coordinating Commission, Oregon's community colleges and universities, and the US Department of Education.

(1) Expand the number of traditionally marginalized students who access higher education and the community programs that serve them.

(2) Empower OTA priority students with leadership opportunities, training, tech resources, and essential skills needed to achieve success in school and career.

(3) Enhance the capacity of OTA to fulfill its mission as a stable, sustainable organization that effectively serves traditionally marginalized students.

OTA will also strengthen connections between its two-year and four-year college access and career programs to ensure more students transfer and graduate with bachelor’s degrees.

Our 54 college access and career programs are the backbone of our organization. These programs staff over 200 TRIO professionals who work with over 11,600 Oregon students statewide. These professionals constitute our membership and support us in achieving our mission. Their ability to identify student needs allows us to provide the resources and opportunities necessary for student academic success. Growing, supporting, and sustaining TRIO programs and its members are our primary functions.

Our Executive Director is responsible for executing the mission, vision, and goals of the organization. The ED facilitates the day-to-day work, responsibilities, and tasks associated with the organization and organizes stakeholders to make decisions about OTA’s future. The ED primarily manages board organization, finances, OTA’s website and communications, and executes the events/activities that OTA offers. Secondarily, the ED fosters relationships with current TRIO programs to provide support and services to both staff and students to meet program objectives. Lastly, the ED works with outside entities to cultivate future opportunities and funding to promote our mission and vision and pursue new TRIO grant opportunities for communities in need. The ED is a non-voting board member of the Northwest Association of Educational Opportunity Programs (NAEOP) and the Council for Opportunity in Education (COE).

OTA’s Board of Directors represent eleven individuals from a majority of TRIO programs throughout Oregon. Their objectives are to:
(1) Provide governance, programmatic, and organizational advice.
(2) Monitor the work of the ED to ensure that OTA is making progress towards meeting its goals and executing its strategies.
(3) Play a critical role in centralizing the work of OTA on the student experience and ensure services and programs provided are in line with OTA’s mission.
(4) Serve on committees to assist with the distribution of funding for scholarships, international education, and the selection of student participants in our various programs.
(5) Board members play a critical role as volunteers for the conferences OTA facilitates each year.
(6) Participate in the strategic planning process to craft a forward-thinking vision that aligns with the needs of TRIO programs and students throughout the state.
(7) Serve as stewards for the organization.

Oregon TRIO Association was founded in 2000 when TRIO program leaders organized to create a singular entity to advocate on behalf of TRIO students to US federal legislators. They held annual meetings to provide programmatic support, community, a platform to share best practices, and organized an annual professional development conference for Oregon’s TRIO professionals.

In 2011, OTA received its 501(c)(3) designation, and its board structure was designed to provide an annual professional development conference for TRIO professionals; an annual student leadership conference for TRIO students; and a framework to ensure that OTA sends advocates annually to Washington D.C. to advocate on behalf of funding and sustaining TRIO programs nationwide. Since then, OTA has expanded via enhanced TRIO Alumni benefits to our students through board positions, a fellowship program, increased student scholarship funding, networking opportunities, and a continued push to legitimize the organization. In July of 2021, OTA received a large grant from the State of Oregon to support college access for traditionally marginalized students. This funding established a full-time Executive Director position and has led to substantial changes within the organization.

Today, TRIO programs continue to serve over 11,600 Oregon students and 200 TRIO staff. OTA is working to build organizational capacity, long term sustainability, and creating more opportunities for programs, staff, and student success. Our primary goal is to increase the number of students served in Oregon by applying for new TRIO grants throughout the state. These grant funds are utilized to run TRIO programs and create scholarships that support college students who are no longer eligible for financial aid (and are close to graduation). OTA is constantly pursuing new projects and funding support to expand services and opportunities for students statewide. We also collaborate with other educational institutions, agencies, and non-profit organizations to help students succeed in higher education and career.

Current OTA activities include but are not limited to:
(1) Working state-wide with non-profit organizations and educational institutions to identify communities with a high need for TRIO programs and aiding in the pursuit of those opportunities;
(2) Hosting a yearly professional development conference that is organized to provide training and networking opportunities to TRIO professionals throughout the state.
(3) Organizing an annual student leadership conference designed to instill leadership skills in students for their future success;
(4) Providing a virtual network for programs and students to connect and hosting our annual conferences in a virtual format;
(5) Identifying the unmet financial needs of our TRIO programs, and
(6) Securing funding to provide opportunities and remove barriers to better serve TRIO students.