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In this paper, we describe efforts of an alliance to increase Pell-grant eligible and first-generation student access to active conference participation by systematically including considerations for student basic needs as well as developing professional science skills and knowledge that aligns with industry and graduate school pathways in computer science. We describe how an alliance creates the structure and flexibility for systematic care for student needs and local innovation to improve educational practice regarding conference participation. We describe our lessons learned for improving access to conferences as well as provide recommendations for increasing student access to professional conference benefits. 

In this paper, we describe efforts of an alliance to increase Pell-grant eligible and first-generation student access to active conference participation by systematically including considerations for student basic needs as well as developing professional science skills and knowledge that aligns with industry and graduate school pathways in computer science. We describe how an alliance creates the structure and flexibility for systematic care for student needs and local innovation to improve educational practice regarding conference participation. We describe our lessons learned for improving access to conferences as well as provide recommendations for increasing student access to professional conference benefits. 

Despite the success of exemplary public minority-serving institutions (MSIs) in broadening representation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) over the last 30 years, change at the national level has been disappointing. A recent National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) consensus study report on advancing antiracism in STEM points to systemic barriers and racial bias as deeply entrenched impediments to bringing talented people from minoritized groups into STEM and enhancing their social mobility. In 2018, to accelerate systemic change, the National Science Foundation (NSF) initiated the Inclusion across the Nation of Communities of Learners of Underrepresented Discoverers in Engineering and Science (INCLUDES) initiative, now named the Eddie Bernice Johnson INCLUDES Initiative. Challenging the United States to look beyond isolated programs to create change on a nationwide scale, this initiative aims to catalyze collaboration and build infrastructure to accelerate STEM participation and professional advancement of historically underrepresented groups such as African Americans, Hispanics, Native Alaskans, Native Americans, Native Hawaiians, Pacific Islanders, persons with disabilities, women and girls, and persons from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. While the initiative has offered valuable lessons in this process, it is essential that higher education and industry leaders, government and private funders, and other decisionmakers tackle inefficiencies and take on reforms if INCLUDES is to reach its full potential. This paper examines some of the exemplary practices of MSIs, as well as the theoretical underpinnings of the INCLUDE model, and provides concrete actions to maximize the impact of this initiative and others like it. The paper argues that revisiting theories of change, understanding the way STEM academic ecosystems work, and fully accounting for the role that leadership plays in driving change and accountability are all necessary to transform a system built upon historical inequities.