Students as Leaders
COABE offers a portfolio of opportunities designed to elevate adult learners as changemakers in their communities and beyond. From nationally recognized credentialing programs (eCornell, Google, IBM SkillsBuild) to hands-on leadership and advocacy training (including the COABE Ambassador Training), this initiative supports adult learners as they grow their skills, share their stories, and shape the future of adult education. Additional offerings include the annual Students as Leaders Summit at the COABE National Conference, the Compass newsletter, and more.
300+
Student Ambassadors
49
States Represented
$133M
Increase in Funding
Students as Leaders Summit at the COABE National Conference
At the inaugural event of the 2024 COABE National Conference in Nashville, TN, more than 50 adult learners joined in-person and over 100 attended live via the web platform. Given the excited response to last year’s Summit, we returned bigger and better in Dallas in 2025. The Summit was completely free to current adult learners or those who had completed an adult education course in a WIOA-funded program in the past 5 years.
278 Adult learners attended COABE 2025 in-person, and 1,342 attended virtually!
To every learner we connected with: you are seen, valued, and celebrated. Your stories of resilience and determination fill us with hope and remind us of the importance of our collective advocacy.
We left this conference inspired, hopeful, and deeply committed to continuing this journey together—positively transforming lives and building stronger communities. We thank you all for your advocacy efforts and can not wait to see who will attend next year. Until then, lets keep advocating online together!