The ECEP Alliance successfully launched its latest stage of growth on May 2-3 at the 2023 ECEP Summit in Oakland, CA. Attendees included 144 representatives from 30 U.S. states and territories, including seven new states who joined ECEP this spring, making this the largest ECEP Summit yet. Collectively, the ECEP Alliance represents over 33 million K-12 students, or 68% of the student population of the nation. 

At the opening plenary session, attendees learned how the CSforCA team operationalizes collective impact in California. On Day 2, the summit kicked off with a plenary focused on understanding the role of state departments of education when it comes to advancing (BPC).

Key themes discussed in this year’s Summit included state team action planning, state data dashboards, centering equity in state plans and outcomes, building diverse teams and partnerships around collective impact, and leveraging industry partners such as Google, Target, and Microsoft on state teams to advance BPC efforts.

"This year's ECEP Summit provided the unique opportunity to welcome seven new states into the BPC Alliance. These additional states will bring fresh ideas, innovative approaches, and strong partnerships to continue the work of broadening participation in computer science education" stated Dr. Joshua Childs, ECEP Co-PI. 

Thanks to supplemental support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), several community college representatives were able to attend the ECEP Summit for the first time, exploring the unique role of community colleges at the crossroads of K-12, higher education, and workforce in broadening participation in computing. As a result, many of these community college leaders will be joining ECEP teams. 

Building a trusting and respectful community of practice was a core principle undergirding summit planning. Because of the deeply personal nature of this work, it was important to purposefully promote that positive culture throughout the Summit. At this year’s summit, The Kapor Center sponsored and hosted a reception for attendees at their Oakland headquarters which fostered cross-state collaboration and team building outside of the confines of a formal conference.  

Philip Friedman, New Mexico ECEP leader stated “The ECEP Summit was a great opportunity for New Mexico to see that we aren’t alone in fighting to bring CS to all students. Seeing all these other states in the same boat as us was humbling and inspiring at the same time. The Summit has New Mexico ready to take this momentum and continue broadening participation in CS for all of its students!”

The ECEP Leadership Team is thankful for the support of NSF and Google as well as the dedication and commitment of all of the ECEP state leaders who contributed to the success of the 2023 Summit. The momentum from this Summit will carry us forward as we collectively work to broaden participation in computing.