Demikia Taylor is a former CTE educator with 14+ years of experience in Durham, NC. She earned her B.S. in Animal Science and her M.S. in Agricultural Education from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She recognized early in her career the challenges of diversifying agricultural literacy, along with the lack of transparency, support, and understanding surrounding resources and funding allocation within CTE. Her dedication and impact did not go unnoticed, her work has been recognized across the state, from local leaders to state commissioners. In 2017, she was awarded Durham Soil and Water Conservation District’s Conservation Educator of the Year and the NC Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts’ High School Teacher of the Year. The following year, she was honored as Teacher of the Year at her school and later nominated as both a CTE Teacher of the Year and a nominee for district Teacher of the Year. Her goal from this experience is to deepen her understanding of educational policies so she can serve as both an advocate and a supporter of teachers seeking to expand their knowledge of the policymaking process. The hope is to help strengthen teachers’ agency and equip them with strategies to advocate for policy changes that create equitable opportunities for all students.