Breaking Barriers in CTE with Dr. Sarah Heath

February is Career & Technical Education Month, and we’re celebrating and elevating CTE with nationally recognized leader Dr. Sarah Heath! Recipient of Advance CTE’s 2023 State CTE Distinguished Leadership Award, Sarah is the State Director for Career and Technical Education in Colorado and Associate Vice Chancellor for Career and Technical Education (CTE) at the Colorado Community College System (CCCS).

In her current position, she leads oversight of all secondary and postsecondary CTE programs in the state, which train more than 230,000 students every year in fields as diverse as healthcare, construction, and aviation. Sarah has dedicated her career to advancing CTE, first as a high school business and computer science teacher, then as a state program director and local system administrator. Improving and increasing opportunities for workforce education and preparation is her life’s passion; she served as the national president of the Association for Career and Technical Education and continues to advocate for CTE on a state, regional, and national level. In 2023, Sarah was named Equity Champion (CTE) by the Colorado Association for Career & Technical Administrators, a branch of the Colorado Association for Career and Technical Education. A proud \"Triple Dawg,\" Sarah has a bachelor’s, master's, and doctoral degree from the University of Georgia.

For the resources for local, state and national leaders Dr. Heath references on this episode, check out Advance CTE’s Learning That Works Resource Center. Learn more about Colorado’s CTE strategic plan, and the national CTE Without Limits: A Shared Vision for the Future of Career Technical Education.

Connect with Dr. Sarah Heath on LinkedIn, and on Twitter (X) check out @Sarahheathcte, @GoCCCS and @CTEWorks.