Hosts Marcus and Dr. B sit down with Regent Heather Brown to discuss how Nevada can expand access to higher education and better connect colleges, entrepreneurs, and employers. Heather shares her first-generation journey from CCSD and UNLV, supported by the Millennial Scholarship, to the Board of Regents, emphasizing affordability, accessibility, retention, and completion, and notes that the Native American fee waiver created in 2021 has improved access even as persistence and credential completion remain priorities. She explains how CCSD-to-CSN pathways and employer training programs can be built quickly, even though higher education still moves more slowly than the economy, and why keeping graduates in Nevada will take stronger internships, careers, salaries, and advancement opportunities. The conversation also explores the state’s growing startup ecosystem, including how Startup Vegas has strengthened founder connections, mentorship, pitch practice, and funding pipelines, while Nevada still needs more experienced entrepreneurs and greater company density. Heather argues that institutions should make their services easier for small businesses to find and use, and that both large employers and small businesses should help shape workforce programs. She also shares her view that AI education should treat the technology as a tool while emphasizing critical thinking, judgment, creativity, communication, and responsible use. Finally, she describes her campus visits and student engagement, and her hope to leave the system better than she found it by expanding opportunity, access, completion, and workforce connections.