Speaker 1: In two thousand seven, my foundations started the Cluton Global
Speaker 1: Initiative University Program or c g IU, to bring college
Speaker 1: and university students together to create change in the US
Speaker 1: and around the world. Our annual meeting was a special
Speaker 1: one as we joined with our virtual host campus, the
Speaker 1: American Association of Community Colleges, to bring together more than
Speaker 1: four hundred student leaders from around the world, representing seventy
Speaker 1: countries and more than two hundred schools. So why am
Speaker 1: I telling you this? Because graduation season is here and
Speaker 1: soon a new generation of leaders will take their energy,
Speaker 1: their ideas, and their action out into the world to
Speaker 1: help solve the challenges we all face. And the more
Speaker 1: opportunities we provide for more people to pursue higher education,
Speaker 1: the better off we all are. On today's episode of
Speaker 1: Why Am I telling You This, you will hear a
Speaker 1: conversation between Hillary and Dr Joe Biden, who continues to
Speaker 1: teach at a community college is first Lady, about why
Speaker 1: community colleges are one of the great quarterstones of America's
Speaker 1: education system and the important role they play in shaping
Speaker 1: the leaders of tomorrow. I hope you will come away
Speaker 1: from this episode like I always come away from c
Speaker 1: g I U and from every trip I take to
Speaker 1: a community college, feeling much more optimistic about our future. Hello,
Speaker 1: and thanks to all of you for joining us. I'd
Speaker 1: also like to thank each and every one of you
Speaker 1: from the c g I YOU class of for coming
Speaker 1: together to take action on some of today's most urgent challenge.
Speaker 1: I thank you for more than three commitments to action
Speaker 1: you've made, and I'm grateful that, in addition to fulfilling
Speaker 1: these projects, you're still looking to do even more. We
Speaker 1: need your energy, your action, your creative cooperation. We need
Speaker 1: them urgently. While we made significant progress in fighting the
Speaker 1: COVID nineteen pandemic, deep inequities still exists around the world,
Speaker 1: and access to vaccine and care here in the US.
Speaker 1: The pandemic also has ripped off the cover of long
Speaker 1: standing disparities and injustices and virtually every aspect of American life. Meanwhile,
Speaker 1: the existential threat of climate change continues to grow, and
Speaker 1: democracy is under assault all around the world, of course,
Speaker 1: most painfully and glaringly in Ukraine. The number of displaced
Speaker 1: people and refugees worldwide is higher than it's ever been
Speaker 1: and rising, and it seems that all across the globe.
Speaker 1: People are pulling away from those who are different, putting
Speaker 1: our future at greater risk and making it harder and
Speaker 1: harder to solve the challenges and seize the opportunities right
Speaker 1: in front of us. In the face of this growing
Speaker 1: wave of divisive tribalism, you offer one of the best
Speaker 1: examples how I think our world ought to work rooted
Speaker 1: in what I would call inclusive tribalism. You come from
Speaker 1: all around the world. You represent different schools and just
Speaker 1: about every demographic distinction you can think of. You're proud
Speaker 1: of the specific schools you attend and the parts of
Speaker 1: your identity that make you the unique person you are.
Speaker 1: But the fact that we're proud of who we are
Speaker 1: doesn't mean we can't come together as a larger community
Speaker 1: focused on turning ideas and the action for the greater good.
Speaker 1: That's inclusive tribalism. We all have unique perspectives, we all
Speaker 1: have something different we bring to the table. What we
Speaker 1: have in common is that each of us can make
Speaker 1: a difference in the lives of people in our community
Speaker 1: and around the world. And because of that ability to
Speaker 1: make a difference, we each have a responsibility to act
Speaker 1: to make good things happen, and to do it together.
Speaker 1: While the challenges our world faces today are quite steep,
Speaker 1: c g IU has always been about what we can do,
Speaker 1: not what we can't do. By bringing diverse partners together
Speaker 1: to take action and achieve results, we can create a
Speaker 1: culture of possibility in the world hungry for hope. In
Speaker 1: this moment of both peril and promise. Your generation can
Speaker 1: be the engine of profound transformation. But it will take
Speaker 1: hard work, termination, cooperation, and innovation. I believe you'll rise
Speaker 1: to the challenge and I'm looking forward to an inspiring meeting.
Speaker 1: Hello everyone, and thank you for tuning in for this
Speaker 1: really important conversation. Community colleges are close to my heart
Speaker 1: and at c g I you, we have seen their
Speaker 1: power in preparing the leaders of tomorrow to tackle our
Speaker 1: biggest challenges. And there is a leader who knows a
Speaker 1: lot about the importance of community colleges, and that is
Speaker 1: Dr Jill Biden. Dr Biden, or as her students like
Speaker 1: to call her. Dr b has spent her entire career
Speaker 1: in the classroom, teaching high school and then community college students.
Speaker 1: She continued teaching even as she became second Lady and
Speaker 1: then First Lady of the United States, and today she
Speaker 1: teaches English at the Alexandria, Virginia campus of Northern Virginia
Speaker 1: Community College just outside Washington, d C. When we were
Speaker 1: thinking about who we would dream of have ing at
Speaker 1: this c g I, you, we could think of no
Speaker 1: one better, uh to talk about the role community colleges
Speaker 1: play and equipping students from all walks of life with
Speaker 1: the skills and opportunities they need. So I'm going to
Speaker 1: start by asking Dr Biden. You've been a community college
Speaker 1: professor for almost thirty years now more probably even more,
Speaker 1: and you said that when you moved from teaching at
Speaker 1: a high school to Dell Tech, something clicked for you,
Speaker 1: and you've continued teaching the whole time that your husband,
Speaker 1: President Biden has been in public service. So what is
Speaker 1: it about this job, Dr Biden that is so special
Speaker 1: to you. Well, first of all, you know, thank you
Speaker 1: so much for inviting me to join you today. Hillary,
Speaker 1: and you and Bill and Chelsea are doing such great
Speaker 1: work here at c g I. But I was especially
Speaker 1: excited to learn that this year you were partnering with
Speaker 1: an organization that I really worked with for so many years,
Speaker 1: the American Association of Community Colleges. And I used to
Speaker 1: call community colleges America's best kept secret. But with organizations
Speaker 1: like yours and a a c U shining a light
Speaker 1: on all the incredible ways they serve students, the secret
Speaker 1: is now out. But to your question, you know, I
Speaker 1: have been teaching high school English, I guess for I
Speaker 1: don't know, maybe thirteen years. And one of my colleagues,
Speaker 1: uh said to left to go teach you to community
Speaker 1: college and called me up and said, Jill, this is
Speaker 1: the best thing ever. You got to come teach a
Speaker 1: community college. So I waited until there was a job opening,
Speaker 1: and then I applied and got the job. And then, uh,
Speaker 1: I have to tell you, Hillary, I mean I went
Speaker 1: and Dell Tech, where I started, was different than anything
Speaker 1: I had done before or because it was the first
Speaker 1: time that I had taught adults. So many of my students,
Speaker 1: as you well know, we're working, Some had children, some
Speaker 1: were taking care of their parents. So when we talked
Speaker 1: about literature, they had, you know, so many life experiences.
Speaker 1: They talked about their travel, their jobs, their families, and
Speaker 1: you know, my life was a little different than theirs,
Speaker 1: but I saw so much of myself in them, and
Speaker 1: that I really connected with my students because here I
Speaker 1: was teaching full time at three children, and I was
Speaker 1: going to grad school, so I knew what some of
Speaker 1: these struggles were and how hard it was to try
Speaker 1: and sort of juggle it all. And I think that's
Speaker 1: what makes community colleges so unique. You know, they serve
Speaker 1: students from every walk of life, and they meet students
Speaker 1: where they are and I have students, and this is
Speaker 1: one of the really great things about teaching at the
Speaker 1: community college, especially here in Northern Virginia, is that the diversity,
Speaker 1: I mean, and the different cultures. I have students this
Speaker 1: semester from all over the globe, like Ukraine and Honduras
Speaker 1: and Ethiopia, and you know, I think I learned more
Speaker 1: from them than they probably learned from me, because they
Speaker 1: write about their lives and their stories, and uh, they
Speaker 1: just add so much more richness to to the classroom.
Speaker 1: So you know. Uh. But when I started teaching at
Speaker 1: the community college, I realized that a lot of my students,
Speaker 1: especially women who were returning back to school, didn't have
Speaker 1: a lot of the support I had, And so I thought, geez,
Speaker 1: we have to have a women's mentoring group on campus,
Speaker 1: and I found that, UM, many of the women who
Speaker 1: came back maybe didn't have some of the skills and technology.
Speaker 1: Uh so many of them had matth anxiety, UM, and
Speaker 1: they were, you know, just trying to juggle it all.
Speaker 1: So when I mentored the students, I felt like I
Speaker 1: was really making a difference. And Hilary, I don't know
Speaker 1: whether you know this, but some of these uh you know,
Speaker 1: I especially talked this one woman, UM who left her husband.
Speaker 1: She was abused, She was living in her car with
Speaker 1: her children. She got into a shelter. They saw how
Speaker 1: smart she was. They got her into the community college,
Speaker 1: and uh it changed her whole life. So UM, I
Speaker 1: mentored her and I helped her write an essay, and
Speaker 1: then she got into a four year college and now
Speaker 1: she's an accountant and she has this great life. And
Speaker 1: there's so many stories like that. I mean, there's just
Speaker 1: hundreds of them out there. They're just a place for
Speaker 1: people to get a second chance, or to advance the
Speaker 1: skills that they already have, or change careers. I mean,
Speaker 1: they really do so much, and UM, I just can't
Speaker 1: say enough about them, as you probably can tell. So anyway, uh,
Speaker 1: that's why I love teaching at community college and I
Speaker 1: love hearing you talk about it, jil It really it
Speaker 1: warms my heart so much because it just is conveyed
Speaker 1: so clearly, and at the end when you said it's
Speaker 1: really a second chance for so many people and how
Speaker 1: they need a little bit of help and a little
Speaker 1: bit of support to be able to find themselves, I
Speaker 1: just I just love hearing you talk about it and
Speaker 1: your experience I think goes right to the heart of
Speaker 1: why we are partnering with the community colleges in our country. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, like you said, we all need a little
Speaker 1: help sometimes, and you've seen that for yourself. I mean,
Speaker 1: you put eighteen million cracks in the ultimate glass ceiling.
Speaker 1: But that comes with a lot of uncertainty and questions. So, Hilary,
Speaker 1: did you have mentors and you know what were some
Speaker 1: of the lessons that you learned from your mentors? Oh?
Speaker 1: I did, and and honestly, I don't know how anybody
Speaker 1: gets through life, let alone education, without having people that
Speaker 1: can guide them offer constructive criticism. One of my great mentors,
Speaker 1: um was one of my first bosses. When I went
Speaker 1: to work for Marion Wright Edelman at the Children's Defense
Speaker 1: fund and you know she, Um, she really not only
Speaker 1: showed me the good that lawyers can do in trying
Speaker 1: to defend people, particularly children who often need um some
Speaker 1: extra help to protect them against all kinds of challenges,
Speaker 1: but also how to do it um as a wife
Speaker 1: and mother, you know someone who was, as you said,
Speaker 1: raising children while while working while tying to make a difference.
Speaker 1: And I can go all the way back to my
Speaker 1: sixth grade teacher, someone Mrs Mrs King, who was so
Speaker 1: encouraging to me. And and it's those memories of people who, yeah,
Speaker 1: they did their job, I mean, obviously that's part of it,
Speaker 1: but more than that, they took an interest in the
Speaker 1: people they taught or that they worked with, and they
Speaker 1: went the extra bit to try to find out what
Speaker 1: could help that individual. And and I think that kind
Speaker 1: of mentoring is so important, and it's important all stages
Speaker 1: of our life. But you know, for me, obviously, UM,
Speaker 1: I know that your education is never finished. I'm always
Speaker 1: learning new things and in the world today, we have
Speaker 1: to keep learning or we'll fall behind. And as you
Speaker 1: rightly pointed out, some of the people that you were
Speaker 1: teaching needed some additional help with technology and a lot
Speaker 1: of the jobs our economy needs most. And I'm going
Speaker 1: to put in a shameless plug and say, what a
Speaker 1: great job your husband's administration is doing unemployment. And I'm
Speaker 1: so so proud of that. But some of the jobs
Speaker 1: that um, we're going to need u haven't even been invented.
Speaker 1: And some of the jobs people are doing now weren't
Speaker 1: around fifteen or twenty years ago. So, as someone who's
Speaker 1: been involved with community colleges, how do we keep giving
Speaker 1: students the education so that they can get the skills
Speaker 1: they need as the workforce changes. And really there's no
Speaker 1: better institution in our economy to do that than community colleges. Now,
Speaker 1: I agree with you, and I think one of the things,
Speaker 1: um you know, community colleges really have a major role
Speaker 1: to play in that. And I've traveled to so many
Speaker 1: community colleges and seen so many different programs, whether they're
Speaker 1: in clean energy or technology. And I was just at
Speaker 1: Intel and um at actually the president of Intel went
Speaker 1: to community college and we connected right away, and here's
Speaker 1: his company. They're making computer chips and he's hiring community
Speaker 1: college students, and um, you know, really they it's all
Speaker 1: about jobs. And so most of my students know that
Speaker 1: they will have jobs when they get out because there's
Speaker 1: all these partnerships and um, especially in the healthcare field.
Speaker 1: I mean, we communities desperately need nurses and e m
Speaker 1: t s especially during this pandemic, radiologists, ultrasound technicians, and
Speaker 1: so they all know that they will have jobs when
Speaker 1: they graduate. That's what community colleges do best to help
Speaker 1: communities all all across the country. No matter what field
Speaker 1: it's in, We'll be right back. You know. I've often
Speaker 1: thought that community colleges could be one of our best
Speaker 1: exports because it makes such a difference in our education system.
Speaker 1: Now I agree with that, and you know, I traveled
Speaker 1: to several UH Latin and Southern American countries and a
Speaker 1: lot of them are starting UH community colleges because a
Speaker 1: lot of their communities have some of the same needs
Speaker 1: that we have. And I love, um, you know, I
Speaker 1: love how Joe just gets all this and is putting
Speaker 1: so much money into workforce development. I have to give
Speaker 1: him my own plug, but nobody, you know, here's it
Speaker 1: every night at the dinner table when I tell him
Speaker 1: what's going on, and uh, you know, the kind of
Speaker 1: programs that we have so anyway, but it's clearly something
Speaker 1: that you understand as well. And you know, I was
Speaker 1: so excited to know that c g I You is
Speaker 1: partnering with community colleges this year and is working further
Speaker 1: to diversify its global community of student and alumni leaders.
Speaker 1: So I would love to know what excites you the
Speaker 1: most about the student leaders coming out of colleges throughout
Speaker 1: the world. Oh, it's so wonderful to look back on
Speaker 1: the c g I use that we've held. We used
Speaker 1: to of course hold them in person, which was really
Speaker 1: thrilling to actually meet students from all over the world,
Speaker 1: and then because the pandemic, you know, we had to
Speaker 1: move to virtual, but we've kept it going and I
Speaker 1: have to say several things really stand out. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's a it's a self selected group people here about
Speaker 1: c G I You, or maybe somebody recommends that they
Speaker 1: look at it, and so they say, I'd like to
Speaker 1: do that because I have an idea or I want
Speaker 1: to meet people from everywhere across the globe. And so
Speaker 1: the students come often with some specific ideas. I mean
Speaker 1: we always have um some competitions around ideas for uh
Speaker 1: new businesses or new job creation we have a a
Speaker 1: coding contest that we give students a problem and how
Speaker 1: do they come up with some kind of technical way
Speaker 1: to address that problem. So I've just been so impressed
Speaker 1: at the level of curiosity and passion and interest and determination. UM.
Speaker 1: It's really been wonderful uh to see UH them. And
Speaker 1: part of why we wanted to focus on UH community
Speaker 1: colleges this year is because, as you said earlier, a
Speaker 1: lot of people are going back to school people or
Speaker 1: they're or they're coming into community colleges after taking time
Speaker 1: off or or having a different set of experiences in
Speaker 1: the work world or in their personal life. And you know,
Speaker 1: we've got so many UM students who are hungry for
Speaker 1: an education and frankly for the kind of mentoring that
Speaker 1: you were talking about. UH. So when i see our
Speaker 1: student body for c g IU, I'm so encouraged, and
Speaker 1: I know that our world will be in good hands
Speaker 1: if they get a chance to make their contributions. And
Speaker 1: and we have hundreds and hundreds of students watching us
Speaker 1: in this conversation, and I want to underscore something you
Speaker 1: said because I know some of them really related to
Speaker 1: the fact that you know they face challenges whether it's
Speaker 1: finding childcare or supporting their parents while they're going to school,
Speaker 1: or working a job full time while they're also trying
Speaker 1: to get an education, but they have to pay the bills,
Speaker 1: and those challenges got so much more complex during COVID.
Speaker 1: And so the theme for this c g I You
Speaker 1: meeting is about building resilience. And you know, that's something
Speaker 1: that I think all of us have to learn in life, um,
Speaker 1: over and over again, not just once. And you've been
Speaker 1: such a role model in so many ways for so
Speaker 1: many people. UM, and for the students who are watching.
Speaker 1: Do you have any advice or any message for students
Speaker 1: today coming out of a pandemic, coming into a lot
Speaker 1: of uncertainty, trying to make sense of all of it,
Speaker 1: about how they personally can find the resilience to keep
Speaker 1: themselves going despite whatever setbacks they face. Well, this has been,
Speaker 1: you know, such a tough year, and UM, you know,
Speaker 1: my students honestly just inspire me every day. You know,
Speaker 1: they had to deal with things that really no other
Speaker 1: generation has had to deal with. And our world has
Speaker 1: just changed in so many ways that I mean, heck,
Speaker 1: we don't really fully understand yet, but but what we
Speaker 1: do know is you know that you've made it this far,
Speaker 1: and that says you know. That's what I say to
Speaker 1: my students. You have such strength and grit, and I
Speaker 1: hope that you know that you're proud of what you've accomplished,
Speaker 1: because I feel so proud of them. And there was
Speaker 1: a poet who once said, what matters most in life
Speaker 1: is how well you walk through the fire. So my
Speaker 1: message to the students is, sooner or later, we will
Speaker 1: all have to walk through the fire, and some of
Speaker 1: us stumble and fall, and maybe we'll feel alone, but
Speaker 1: we're never alone. And sometimes people can't see that pain
Speaker 1: that hides behind your smile, but if we give them
Speaker 1: the chance, they can help us shoulder the weight of
Speaker 1: our lives. And I think that, you know, we give
Speaker 1: our hearts in little ways, like the words we use,
Speaker 1: the conscious decisions we make to be present, the small
Speaker 1: acts of iiness. And sometimes I think the most courageous
Speaker 1: thing we can learn to do is lean on our communities.
Speaker 1: And I think that's what we give to to each other.
Speaker 1: You know, It's our our vulnerability, our brokenness, and the
Speaker 1: chance to be someone else's strength in return. And I
Speaker 1: think that that's what community colleges are they help students
Speaker 1: find their confidence and build their skills and feel like
Speaker 1: they're part of this big family that supports them and
Speaker 1: they know that, um, they can go out into the
Speaker 1: world and get great jobs and really and then in
Speaker 1: turn build better communities. So UM, you know, I'll be
Speaker 1: back there in the classroom tomorrow and uh, you know,
Speaker 1: helping them move forward. And UH, like I said, Hillary,
Speaker 1: I can't say enough good things about the power of
Speaker 1: community colleges. So thanks for having me today. Oh, thank
Speaker 1: you so very much. Honestly, that was such an incredible answer,
Speaker 1: and your students are so lucky, uh to have you
Speaker 1: in the classroom. And I just think every student watching
Speaker 1: that answer, UM is going to take something away because
Speaker 1: they they are going to feel that they have the
Speaker 1: strength and and ability to continue to pursue their own dreams.
Speaker 1: And I just can't thank you enough for joining us
Speaker 1: and sharing your experience and sharing your heart, um with
Speaker 1: all of the c g I students. Uh, you really
Speaker 1: are making a difference. And I'm thrilled that more people
Speaker 1: are going to be able to see and hear what
Speaker 1: you say and take that to their own hearts. So
Speaker 1: you make me more hopeful about our future. They make
Speaker 1: me hopeful. My students make me hopeful. So thank you
Speaker 1: Hillary for focusing on community colleges. It'll make a real difference.
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you for everything you're doing. Our hearts
Speaker 1: and our hearts and energy. Go with you, my friend,
Speaker 1: take care of bye bye. Why am I telling you?
Speaker 1: This is a production of Our Heart Radio, the Clinton
Speaker 1: Foundation and at Will Medium. Our executive producers are Craigmanesssian
Speaker 1: and Will Manadi. Our production team includes Jamison Katsufas, Tom Galton,
Speaker 1: Sara Horowitz, and Jake Young, with production support from Liz
Speaker 1: Rafferee and Josh Fornham. Original music by What White. Special
Speaker 1: thanks to John Sykes, John Davidson on Hell, Orina, Corey Gansley,
Speaker 1: Kevin thurm Oscar Flores, and all our dedicated staff and
Speaker 1: partners at the Clinton Foundation. Hi, I'm a USh alexiad There.
Speaker 1: I'm Senior Impact and Design Manager and a proud alumni
Speaker 1: of the Clinton Global Initiative University c g i U.
Speaker 1: President Clinton and Chelsea often say that you're never too
Speaker 1: young to make a difference. That c g I you
Speaker 1: were working to engage the next generation of leaders on
Speaker 1: college campuses, across the country and around the world to
Speaker 1: turn their big ideas for social change into meaningful action.
Speaker 1: Through our year round program of mentorship, skills training, and
Speaker 1: partnership building, we're cultivating a community of more than ten
Speaker 1: thousand students and alumni who are committed to taking real,
Speaker 1: concrete steps towards working together and solving the pressing global
Speaker 1: challenges that affect us all from responding to COVID nineteen
Speaker 1: to expanding access to clean water, to supporting refugees and
Speaker 1: so much more. The students of c g I you
Speaker 1: demonstrate the future of impact. Learn more about this work
Speaker 1: and see how you can get involved visit www dot
Speaker 1: Clinton Foundation dot org. Slash podcast