On this episode, host Patty Patty Spagnuolo welcomes Allison Snyder from the LCC Technical Careers Division, to explore Tech Forward: Men of Color 2026. The event promotes greater diversity in technology by offering career exploration and hands-on experiences in fields like welding, drone operation, automotive technology, and much more. Open to all ages, the event connects attendees with industry professionals and faculty while encouraging community support to help close workforce gaps.

Event Details

8:30 a.m. - 12:15 p.m. on Friday, April 10, 2026

LCC West Campus, Conference Rooms - 5708 Cornerstone Dr., Lansing, MI 48917

This is a free event, open to the public. Registration required; space is limited.

Website: Event Registration

Website: Tech Forward - Men of Color 2026

Welcome to the StarZone, I'm Patty Spagnuolo. From resource fairs geared towards our students, to arts and entertainment aimed to connect with our community, Lansing Community College hosts many events throughout the year, and the StarZone gives you a rundown on what's on the way, where it's happening, and how you can get into the zone at LCC.

Hello everyone, this is Patty Spagnolo. Today my guest is Alison Snyder on the Star Zone. Alison is the secondary to post secondary program coordinator in the Technical careers division.

With 20 years of experience in higher education, she leads recruitment, outreach and dual enrollment partnerships for the division. Alison, welcome to the show.

Thank you.

But people of color, if they do not shift to the technology industry, they won't experience that wage growth and the income disparity will worsen. So how does this event sort of assist with disrupting that trend?

So we're trying to create awareness. So it's an invitation to the community.

We heavily promote this event to high school students, of course, because they're kind of that next generation coming up.

But also anyone who is older, it doesn't matter the age coming in, we want people to be aware that there are opportunities out there for them that right now, especially in the trades which we in technical careers focus on trades, public service careers and computer information technology, minorities are definitely the minority. It's pretty, pretty strong. And so we are just trying to make sure that there's a awareness that this is an option for anyone.

We have a similar event, Women in Trades and Technology public service careers as well. And same thing, you know, there's underrepresentation as well with women in these career fields.

Absolutely.

So we just want to know, let them know what their options are.

Right. Is this the first year this event is being held?

An idea that came about with the dean at the time. So to address this particular issue that there is an underrepresentation.

Okay, so who should attend this event then?

Anyone.

And really, even though it is geared toward men of color specifically, it is open to anyone who is interested in learning about technical careers, technical programs. So you will not be turned away at the door if you have an interest and want to learn more.

Because that's really what we aim to do, is to make prospective students of any age aware of what they can participate in here.

So when you say any age, it could be a mom that's sitting at home and wanting to get back into the workforce and saying, you know what, I'm going to see what they have to offer.

Yes, definitely.

Okay. And then you mentioned high schools, I think.

Yeah.

So are we talking the greater Lansing area? Do you branch out even farther? Like into the counties, the Clinton County, Eaton county, those kinds of areas.

So we do promote really for anything that we're doing at LCC and West Campus, specifically to the Slice region. So Shiawassee, Livingston, Bingham, Ionia, Clinton and Eaton counties.

Awesome. So in the description I see that there were hands on activities. What kinds of things will be going on that day?

So we have multiple programs. We usually have about eight programs that participate in this event. And it could be anything from welding, automotive, our drone program.

And students get to spend 30 minutes with each program and actually try it out. So with welding they're going to weld.

With drones, they're going to fly a drone and we want them to feel what it's going to be like to actually try out this particular program, career path and see if it's a good fit for them. Maybe spark some interesting.

Wow. So I'm assuming there'll be faculty there that also run the program.

So the students get that feel for, hey, I'm going to be working with this person to learn this trade or whatever. It makes it more familiar.

Yes, Faculty, lab techs, those are the people that will be running these hands on sessions and that's really a normal part of our visits at West Campus.

So is there an age limit? Like if you're doing welding, I would think you wouldn't be able to have a six year old.

Correct. Okay. So yes. You know, I don't think there's anything too old but 12. Middle school might be kind of the cap there.

I don't mean to like dog on 6 year olds so them could probably tear it up like grandson probably.

We're not letting six year olds play with fire today. But you know, middle school have a.

Whole new kind of activity going on there, putting out a fire. So you briefly mentioned showing up. You wouldn't turn away. But I see there's registration required.

Is that there is registration required. Just because there's a space restriction. So we can't take everybody that would like to come. But we usually cap at about 100 participants.

Okay.

Which is pretty good. 80 Is kind of the sweet spot, but we'll take up to 100 for registration.

And how do people register for this?

They can go to the website and there is. It's on the events calendar on April 10th. You see it there, Tech forward, men of color, they can just click on it and they can register.

It's a pretty quick registration process.

Awesome. So I hear you have a well known keynote speaker. Can you tell the listeners who it is and why he supports this event?

TJ Duckett is a former football player for MSU and he also played in the NFL for a number of years. And this is what he does. He encourages, he inspires. He speaks to a lot of different groups in the community.

And so this is really in his wheelhouse, encouraging students to really take hold of opportunities that are set before them.

Awesome. And is he a Michigan native? I don't remember.

I believe he is a Michigan native.

I was thinking that too, but I don't know that for sure. So interesting though, it's neat that he, I'm assuming he travels the country and does this kind of thing.

He does. We were excited to have him on board for this event.

Yes, absolutely. He probably comes back to his old stomping grounds of MSU at times.

Kalamazoo.

Oh, okay. So he's a Kalamazoo native. All right. Awesome. Little help there from the production crew. Thank you.

Okay, so what will this day look like when people pull in at 8:30?

What's this going to look like?

Do they have to go through some sort of registration process? What do they do?

So when they come in, they'll check in at the registration table and we'll look to see that they're registered. If they're not registered and if there's space, we'll still allow them to participate in the event.

But we do encourage everyone to register because students can actually prospective students, participants can select different program areas that they're interested in prior to coming and that will help dictate which hands on sessions they participate in at the event. So if they already have something that they're interested in, we want them to really get a taste of that while they're here.

So they'll come in, they'll register or they'll check in, they'll get their name tag and it'll indicate which hands on sessions that they will attend in the morning and then they'll sit down, we'll have a light breakfast served and the keynote will begin at 9. And so we'll have the keynote speaker and an interactive session between 9 and 10. And then students will prospect.

I always say students, but into perspective. Students and attendees will move on to their hands on sessions at 10 o' clock and each of those will last about 30 minutes.

They will come back to lunch and during the lunch hour it's about 45 minutes. They'll also have a resource fair.

So industry partners, businesses as well as campus resources like admissions, financial aid center for student access will also be there manning tables to share information with the attendees.

Awesome.

So you probably mentioned this and I forgot, but our families, like will whole families come to this, like moms and dads bring their kids and that type of thing?

Yeah, that definitely will happen. I even thought about bringing my son. He'll be in sixth grade in the.

Fall, so I thought bring him with me.

So, you know, it's a great event for an entire family. Yes. Because everyone can get something from it.

And so if you have young men in your house, please bring them because we love to expose them to what we have at West Campus. This is a great time to get into trades.

Specifically, there is a lack of people in trades nationwide and so there's a lot of room to get in and to get started and for growth in that industry.

Awesome. Sounds like a great event. What is the main takeaway? If you were to put it into a few words, what do you want?

What do you hope students walk away with? What are you trying to encourage?

We hope that they'll see themselves in something.

In technical careers, there's something that will spark their interest that says, oh, I didn't know that, or I didn't realize that was something I could do, or maybe I knew someone already that did that and I didn't realize that's what it was. So just a clarification on what technical careers are and what opportunities exist within industry, within the world, and even for personal benefit.

You know, we want them to know that these are skills that you can take with you for life, whether you use them in a career, whether you use them, you know, at your own house. Right. You take a construction class, you know, this is something that you can use every day.

It's kind of like it's almost like a mini job shadow.

It is.

You know, I say that about the programs at LCC so often is the name sometimes just doesn't resonate with what you would actually be doing day to day.

So these hands on activities are so important because you might not know what you really like or something that you don't really like and all of a sudden it's put before you and you think, okay, I guess I'm not doing that. But those are good things to sort out and to know. So is there anything else you want to add about this day or how you feel about this program?

Check Forward Men of Color always has a really great energy. I will say there's always just a really good vibe and you can feel it in the room. It's got this palpable energy there.

And so I encourage everyone who is at least a little bit interested to come and see what we have.

I think a lot of students, a lot of parents, a lot of counselors that come visit our campus are continuously surprised at what we offer within the Technical Careers Division. And they know someone who it could benefit, whether it's in their classroom or in their household or themselves for that matter.

Thank you for having me and thank.

You all for listening. This is Patty Spagnolo. Wishing you well. Everyone,.

Thanks for joining us here on the StarZone. For more information on this episode, visit lccconnect.org. You can also find a complete list of Lansing Community College events by visiting lcc.edu/calendar. Until next time, thanks for getting into the Zone.