AGB Search presents its newest installment of “Voices from the Academy,” in which we talk with higher education leaders who are guiding their institutions through unprecedented change. In this installment, AGB Search Associate Managing Principal Melissa Trotta speaks with Miami Dade College President Madeline Pumariega. AGB Search assisted in Miami Dade College’s presidential search and was pleased to reconnect with Ms. Pumariega to discuss her journey from MDC alumna, to serving as the first female and Hispanic chancellor for the Florida College System, to her current role as MDC’s first female president.

Ms. Pumariega embraces her responsibility to lead by listening and serve as an example to young leaders, as well as to engage with the community at large to enact positive change. “Talent is universal,” says Ms. Pumariega, “opportunity is not…we know that opportunity changes everything, and if we can get the right skills, that’s the bridge between talent and opportunity.”

Watch the interview.