The 2025–2026 CCCEOPSA New Directors Jegnaship Program culminated at Saddleback College with a heartwarming closing session rooted in Sankofa Praxis, ancestral remembrance, community, and leadership in service of students.

Seventeen Jegnees. Fourteen Jegnoch. Ten regions represented. Twenty-two districts. Twenty-four campuses.

The 2025–2026 CCCEOPSA New Directors Jegnaship Program came to a powerful and heartwarming close at Saddleback College on June 17, 2026. Facilitated by Iya Adeeba D. Deterville, PhD, the closing session brought together new and experienced EOPS leaders from across California for a culminating experience rooted in reflection, culture, community, and purpose.

The session, titled “Refining Your Jegnaship Practice,” marked the culmination of a yearlong relational, African-centered development process designed to pair new EOPS directors with more experienced directors. Together, participants reflected on leadership not simply as a position, but as a responsibility to students, communities, ancestors, and future generations.

Grounded in Purpose and Lineage

The day opened by grounding participants in purpose and lineage through reflection, ancestral remembrance, and Sankofa libation. As shared in the closing handout:

“To do that which is of value is eternity. And a person called forth by their works does not die. For their name is raised and remembered because of it.”
— Seti I

This reflection invited participants to consider the chain of lives that made their presence possible. Over the last 400 years, across twelve generations, each person represents thousands of ancestors whose prayers, struggles, determination, and hopes helped make the present moment possible.

In that spirit, the gathering honored those who came before us and called their wisdom into the room. Participants were reminded that naming and remembering our forebears is itself an act of Sankofa.

Sankofa Praxis: Remembering in Order to Move Forward

At the heart of the closing session was Sankofa Praxis, a transformational framework that integrates cultural reclamation, relational development, African-centered ways of knowing, psychology, spiritness, and personhood.

The handout defines Sankofa as the cultural concept of going back to retrieve what has been forgotten in order to move forward. Praxis is described as the integration of knowledge and practice. Together, Sankofa Praxis asks leaders to remember, reclaim, apply, and transform.

This was not a passive reflection. It was an invitation to carry ancestral wisdom into the everyday work of serving students, leading programs, shaping policy, building teams, and advocating for equity across California Community Colleges.

Sankofa-Jegnaship Is Not Mentorship

A central theme of the session was the distinction between mentorship and Sankofa-Jegnaship.

Jegnaship was presented as a relational, African-centered, intentionally guided development process for intergenerational knowing and knowledge transfer. Unlike traditional mentorship, Sankofa-Jegnaship is not a one-way relationship from expert to novice. It is a mutual co-learning experience in which wisdom, practice, and responsibility move dynamically between participants.

This distinction matters deeply for the New Directors Jegnaship Program. New directors are not simply recipients of knowledge. They are developing Jegnas, actively engaged in transformation, modeling what they have learned, and contributing to the collective growth of the field.

The Attributes of a Jegna

The closing session also invited participants to reflect on the attributes of a Jegna. A Jegna is an honored and accomplished person who has been tested through struggle, demonstrated fearlessness, shown courage in protecting their people and culture, produced high-quality work, and dedicated themselves to the protection, defense, nurturance, and development of the young.

These attributes served as a bridge between cultural grounding and professional practice. Participants considered how the qualities of a Jegna show up in the daily work of EOPS leadership: advocating for students, creating psychological safety for staff, making data-informed decisions, stewarding resources responsibly, and remaining courageous in difficult conversations.

Applying Jegnaship to EOPS Leadership

The work of the NDJP is both cultural and practical. The program connects the attributes of a Jegna to the responsibilities of leading EOPS, CARE, and NextUp programs.

Throughout the session, participants reflected on five leadership domains:

Increasing New-Director Efficacy
New directors strengthened their understanding of EOPS, CARE, and NextUp foundations, including regulations, Education Code, Title 5, data reporting, program planning, and student-centered advocacy.

Program Management
Participants explored how to create psychological safety, support accountability, build shared student-success visions, train staff, delegate effectively, and review internal policies for compliance and alignment with program intent.

Program Development
The cohort reflected on innovation, inclusive decision-making, equitable processes, and the importance of developing staff through training, refreshed practices, and space for learning.

Implementation
Participants emphasized centering students, disaggregating data to keep equity in focus, aligning internal guidelines with regulations and timelines, stewarding budgets responsibly, and collaborating across departments and advisory boards.

Advocacy
The group affirmed the importance of fearless advocacy: teaching students and communities how to know their rights, staying involved across campus and statewide spaces, engaging difficult conversations, and sharing program accomplishments with stakeholders.

Honoring Ancestors, Communities, and Students

The day included a powerful ancestral and community display with photographs, names, cultural items, and symbolic pieces. This visual remembrance reminded participants that leadership is never isolated from legacy. The work of serving students is connected to those who made a way before us and those who will inherit the future we build.

The closing also reflected the spirit of the Divine Calabash, a symbol of African knowledge, collective responsibility, and connection across visible and invisible realms. The gathering reminded us that leadership is not only administrative. It is spiritual, relational, communal, and deeply human.

Moving Forward as Jegnees and Jegnoch

As the 2025–2026 cohort closes this chapter, participants carry the Sankofa-Jegnaship framework into their daily leadership. They move forward committed to sustaining the regional relationships built through the program and continuing the co-learning relationships that extend beyond the formal session.

The closing words of the handout beautifully capture the spirit of the day:

“The Divine in Me — Joins the Divine in You — and You and Me become We, in the Calabash.”

With gratitude, pride, and renewed purpose, the CCCEOPSA New Directors Jegnaship Program participants move forward as Jegnees and Jegnoch — leaders dedicated to honoring ancestors, serving communities, protecting programs, and advancing student success.