The Oregon Community Table on Postsecondary Education and Training, known as OCPD, presented an overview of its statewide advocacy, training and policy work to the House Committee on Higher Education and Workforce Development on April 24.

OCPD program lead Teresa Alonso Leon, a former state representative and former chair of the House Higher Education Committee, told lawmakers the volunteer-run group was formed in 2023 to center the experiences of underserved and underrepresented postsecondary students. "Our students expressed challenges with access, retention, student wrap around services, graduation rates, and finding family wage jobs post graduation," Alonso Leon said.

The group described three core activities: recruiting a statewide membership ("over a hundred members," according to testimony), providing civic-engagement training for students, and developing policy priorities for the 2025 legislative session that include funding requests now before Ways and Means. Alonso Leon said OCPD also established a paid internship program and an "education champions" training to teach students how to write and deliver testimony and engage with legislators.

Dr. Lisa Hahn, a member of OCPD's leadership team, said the training targets students who do not already receive civic education in K–12. "They're learning about what this is. They learn about their voice. They learn about their impact," Hahn said, adding she volunteered because she wanted to help students learn advocacy skills earlier in their academic careers.

Joshua Easton, chair of the Department of Politics and Global Affairs at Portland State University, described OCPD's role as combining civic education and student representation at the Capitol. "We do not have... a group that can really stand up and harness the power of, students and student organizations," Easton said, noting the organization reaches both community colleges and universities.

Committee members asked for details about OCPD's training and campus partnerships. Alonso Leon said OCPD has provided trainings at Portland State University, Western Oregon University, Willamette University, Mt. Hood Community College and Chemeketa Community College; she said a leadership-team member organized a class of 35 students at another community college and that 11 of those students submitted written testimony. From January through April 2025, Alonso Leon said OCPD delivered nine trainings attended by more than 70 students and community members; over the last two years she said the organization has trained more than 300 participants in civic engagement.

On policy, Alonso Leon linked OCPD's work to a 2021 legislative action and a 2022 joint task force. She said the group built on House Bill 2590 (2021) and the Joint Task Force on Student Success for Underrepresented Students in Higher Education (the task force convened March–July 2022) to set priorities. One bill OCPD highlighted to the committee was Senate Bill 979, described in testimony as a proposal to create a Students with Disabilities Success Workgroup at the Higher Education Coordinating Commission to develop recommendations for supporting students with disabilities in postsecondary settings. Alonso Leon said the task-force work found that individualized education plans (IEPs) from K–12 do not automatically "travel" with students into college and that services and capacity vary by institution.

Alonso Leon thanked several funders and partners who support OCPD's work, naming the Oregon Community Foundation, Meyer Memorial Trust, Ford Family Foundation, Lumina Foundation and Foundations for a Better Oregon, and said earlier startup support came from the Higher Education Coordinating Commission and the Oregon Student Association. She also identified Kapasas Leadership Institute as a partner and said her consulting firm, Paracata Consulting LLC, was engaged to form the statewide advocacy group.

Committee members expressed support for OCPD's civic-training work and encouraged expansion to additional community colleges; Representative Regula specifically invited OCPD to bring its program to Lane Community College. The hearing was informational; the committee did not take formal action at the meeting.

OCPD's presenters asked the committee to consider the perspective of students experiencing housing and food insecurity, childcare barriers and other challenges when evaluating higher-education funding and policy proposals. Alonso Leon said the group's membership and training activities aim to prepare students to testify and participate in future legislative and budget discussions.