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Anette visits with Jacob Fraire, President and CEO of the Texas Association of Community Colleges (TACC). Jacob and Anette discuss issues surrounding community colleges, including legislative, governance, and the challenges faced by students of poverty.

Since 2016, Mr. Fraire has provided leadership to TACC, a nonprofit advocacy organization whose core mission is advancing state policy, institutional practice, and research in support of the 50 public community colleges of Texas. Mr. Fraire further provides leadership to the Community College Association of Texas Trustees, a nonprofit organization serving more than 400 local-elected trustees and regents who govern the state’s community colleges. Texas community colleges serve more than 742,000 students enrolled in credit-bearing programs and countless students enrolled in continuing education, non-credit bearing courses.

Before joining TACC, Mr. Fraire served as Vice President of Philanthropy at Texas Guaranteed Student Loan Corporation, now known as Trellis Company. Acting as the chief architect of the corporate philanthropy, Mr. Fraire stewarded $80 million in competitive grants to advance college access, need-based financial aid, student success, and research. Mr. Fraire has served on multiple state and national boards and advisory committees, including the Institute for Higher Education Policy, Grantmakers for Education, and federal Advisory Committee on the Measure of Student Success.

For more than a decade, Mr. Fraire served in advocacy and lobbying positions in Washington, DC. He served as Director of Legislation and Policy Analysis for the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and a senior legislative coordinator for a DC-based law firm representing colleges and universities.

The son of migrant farmworkers, Mr. Fraire grew up in El Paso, Texas. He holds a Bachelor of Science from St. Edward’s University and a master’s degree in public affairs from the University of Texas at Austin. In May 2013, he was awarded an honorary associate's degree from El Paso Community College.