The Kresge Foundation has annually sponsored a delegation of South African higher education officials to attend the nation’s largest community college reform conference, Achieving the Dream, to learn and share ideas with American leaders on community college reform efforts. The 2016 delegation was Kresge’s largest ever; 25 South Africans spent the week of Feb. 22 in Atlanta with more than 2,000 community college leaders to build knowledge and improve student completion rates at the conference.

“Bringing together leaders from both continents to discuss these issues can be transformative for administrators, and more importantly students, on both sides.” – William Moses, managing director, Kresge Education Program.

On Monday, Kresge’s Education team hosted the South African delegation on a site visit to Georgia State University in downtown Atlanta to see firsthand how the institution has become a national leader in its use of data analytics. Georgia State’s innovative use of data, coupled with its deployment of other student success supports, has enabled the university to eliminate the achievement gaps commonly found between students of differing race or family income.

“Low-income and underrepresented students in the U.S. share so many common challenges with their counterparts in South Africa,” said William Moses, Kresge’s Education Program managing director. “Bringing together leaders from both continents to discuss these issues can be transformative for administrators and more importantly, students, on both sides. I know everyone left Atlanta feeling inspired and ready to bring new solutions to their campuses that will lead to better outcomes for students.”

The conference offered more than 50 instructive sessions for community college leaders including improving teaching and learning, redesigning developmental education and improving student advising. On Wednesday, leaders from Achieving the Dream, Georgia State and Kresge also shared reflections over dinner at Atlanta’s Center for Civil and Human Rights.

“For all the presentations this morning and our sessions yesterday, the one abiding message I’ve come across is a deep, profound caring for the well-being of students,” said Norman Duncan, University of Pretoria deputy vice chancellor. “We all want students to be successful for the well-being of the country.”

Since 2010 a total of 81 academic leaders from universities and nonprofits representing about half of the universities in South Africa have attended Achieving the Dream through Kresge’s support.