Selena Blair was recently appointed as Secretary as the Southeastern Association of Educational Opportunity Program Personnel (SAEOPP).

SAEOPP is a regional professional organization comprised of TRIO and other College Access Employees from eight states – Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee — dedicated  to professional development and support and to the advocacy of the TRIO Movement.

Their mission is to promote and support equal educational opportunity and access to postsecondary education. Through professional development, networking, research and advocacy, SAEOPP provides TRIO personnel and others with the necessary skills and techniques to assure that the least advantaged have equal access to higher education.

Not only is Blair the only female officer, but this is the first time someone from our institution has ever held a leadership role in a TRIO organization.

Blair became the director of Opportunity Network, a TRIO Student Support Services program, at USC Upstate in August 2012.  Since that time, she has continued to demonstrate her passion for TRIO programs and commitment to her students by making presentations at national, regional, and state conferences as well as traveling to Capitol Hill to meet with legislators to discuss the impacts of sequestration on her students and develop policies to aid in the success of low-income, first generation college students and students with disabilities.

In early October, Blair had the privilege to co-facilitate the Opening Plenary Session entitled “Becoming a Politically Savvy Advocate” at the SC TRIO Fall Conference held in Columbia, SC.

A product of the TRIO programs herself, Blair is committed to personifying the phrase “TRIO Works.”