I first met Argelia in 1999 as the founding President and CEO of the DC College Access Program (DC-CAP). Over the years, I have appreciated her leadership, innovative thinking, collaborative spirit and commitment to increasing the number of low-income, minority students able to pursue and earn post-secondary degrees.

Before starting up the DC-CAP program at our school, Argelia took the time to understand the school environment, student demographics, and staffing resources to ensure that the programming would be effective and sustainable for our school and student population. She and her staff collaborated with dozens of teachers and counselors over the years to ensure that the message, that every student could and should pursue higher ed, reverberated around the school. Understanding that the support of parents and guardians is critical, she helped empower them through financial aid, educational planning, and other parental training, to support their child’s progression and long-term success.

Argelia understood that not all students would or needed to earn four-year college degrees. She understood that in today’s economy there is growing demand and employment opportunity for community college, vocational, trade and certificate program graduates as well. Her programming helped students find which path was right for them. Her programming was especially impactful on our undocumented students who need extra help in navigating their path to higher ed.

The STEM Ready program she created helped increase the number of our graduates who were motivated, prepared and pursued STEM related majors and careers. She helped to dramatically increase number of students pursuing higher education on all tracks. And her innovation in college retention strategies helped increase the college graduation rates for our students to unprecedented levels.

As the longest serving high school principal in the DC Public School System and a 23 year partner with her and the college counseling organization she led, it is my pleasure to recommend Argelia Rodriguez and her educational consulting services.