2019-2020 Innovation and Impact Report
Leadership
The Foundation is led by a collaborative executive team and Board of Directors dedicated to advancing the missions of the California Community Colleges. The board includes leaders from education, philanthropy, advocacy, and business who provide strategic guidance and fiduciary oversight.
Executive Team
Keetha Mills
President and Chief Executive Officer
Melissa Conner
Chief Advancement Officer
Andrea Meyer
General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
Joseph Quintana
Chief Operating Officer
Sandra Fried
Vice President, Success Center
Julian Roberts
Chief Financial Officer
Bryan Miller
Vice President, Communications and Technology
Board of Directors
Kathy Williams
Chair of the Board
Kathy Williams, founder and president of the Saint Jude Tuition Fund Corporation, brings three decades of sales management experience at firms including Oracle, Citrix, and Ellucian. During her career supporting higher education, Williams has developed extensive knowledge of business management, program development, technology, and corporate philanthropy.
George Acero
Vice Chair of the Board
George Acero, owner of Acero Law, has represented the Regents of the University of California for more than a decade and has significant experience in post-secondary education in California. He currently serves as the President of the Cruz Reynoso Bar Association and has professional affiliations with the State Bar of California Labor & Employment Law Section and the Sacramento County Bar Association.
Geneve Villacres
Secretary/Treasurer
Geneve Villacres is the Vice President and Director of Government Relations at OneMain Financial and previously served as Community Relations Manager at Pacific Gas & Electric. She brings a wealth of experience in advancing workforce policies and coordinating work-based learning opportunities in the public and private sectors, communications, public relations, and K-12 pipeline development.
Darius Anderson
Director
Darius Anderson is Founder and Chairman of Platinum Advisors, a full-service government affairs firm through which he has successfully advised many of California’s highest-ranking political and business leaders. Anderson is an accomplished entrepreneur across multiple sectors, including real estate and media, with more than three decades of business expertise.
Manuel Baca
Director
Dr. Manuel Baca is a Political Science Professor at Rio Hondo College and former member of the Board of Governors from 2009 to 2015, including two terms as President from 2013-2014. He has held a number of faculty and administrative positions within both the California Community College and California State University systems.
Yasmin Davidds
Director
Dr. Yasmin Davidds is Founder and CEO of the Latina Global Executive Leadership Institute, Founder and President of the Women’s Institute of Negotiation (WIN), and Professor of Leadership at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business. Her extensive career in organizational psychology has been focused on entrepreneurship, negotiation skills, and leadership cultivation particularly among members of disadvantaged communities.
Frank Gornick
Director
Dr. Frank Gornick brings over 40 years of community college executive experience, including 16 years as Chancellor of the West Hills Community College District. A proud product of the community colleges, Gornick oversaw the planning and construction of the West Hills College Lemoore campus and the district’s transition into a multi-college system.
Ferial Govashiri
Director
Ferial Govashiri is Chief of Staff to the Chief Content Officer at Netflix and is the former Personal Aide to the President of the United States under Barack Obama. She has over 10 years of political campaign and government experience and brings strategic planning and technology expertise to the Foundation board.
Lance Izumi
Director
Lance Izumi is a Koret Senior Fellow and Senior Director of Education Studies at the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy, Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Army, and serves on the Executive Committee of the Army’s Los Angeles Grassroots Board. Izumi served as a member of the California Community Colleges Board of Governors from 2004 to 2015, including two terms as President from 2008 to 2009.
Patrick Mulvaney
Director
Patrick Mulvaney is Proprietor and Head Chef of Mulvaney’s B&L, a Sacramento farm-to-table restaurant, and is instrumental in making Sacramento the “Farm-to-Fork capital of the country.” A leading public policy advocate, he serves on the boards of many regional charitable organizations and is passionate about expanding training opportunities and sustainability in the culinary industry.
Jennifer Perry
Director
Jennifer Perry has been Executive Director at the Children’s Action Network since 1990, and she previously held positions as Director of Public Affairs at Act III Communications, Director of Special Projects in the Office of Senator Alan Cranston, and Staff Assistant in the Office of Congressman Mickey Leland. Perry has served on the California Community Colleges Board of Governors since 2015.