Class of 2024

Dawn Cooper, Assistant Vice Chancellor of
College Access Initiatives
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

Connie Dawes, Director
University of Texas at Austin

Michael Lane, Executive Director
Winston-Salem State University (NC)

Deserie Lozano, Associate Director
California State University at Monterey Bay

Kim Drummond Welch, Executive Director
GEAR UP Kentucky

Class of 2026

Nicole Saenz, Director
Region One ESC (TX)

Alana Simmons, Director
Dougherty County School System (GA)

Janicia Centeno-Castillo, Director
Los Angeles Unified School District (CA)

Duane Gregg, Director
Tennessee Higher Education Commission

Ruben Rocha, Director
Utah Valley University

Former Commissioners

Rodolfo Acosta, Director
University of California, Irvine

Tina Atkins, Director
Region One ESC GEAR UP
Texas Region One
Education Service Center

Traci O. Aucoin,
GEAR UP Project Director
Lafayette Parish School System (LA)

Adriana Badillo, GEAR UP Director
California State University, Fullerton

Carlos Bing, State GEAR UP Director
Ohio Department of Higher Education

Ashley Booker, Director
Get Ready/MN GEAR UP
Minnesota Office of Higher Education

Lois Bramwell, GEAR UP Director
GEAR UP 4 LA
Los Angeles Unified School District (CA)

Samantha Briggs, GEAR UP Director
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Juliette Caire, GEAR UP Executive Director
University of Texas at El Paso

Mary Callan, GEAR UP Director
GEAR UP Maine

Martha Cantu, Director
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Stephanie Carnahan, Project Director
Oregon GEAR UP
Oregon State University

Tireka Cobb, GEAR UP Director
Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance

Charlotte Curtis, Director
Nevada State GEAR UP
Nevada Department of Education

Jacque Deahl, Project Director
Idaho State Department of Education

Robert Dais, Director
GEAR UP Massachusetts
Massachusetts Department of
Higher Education

Shelley Davis, Director
California GEAR UP
Office of the President
University of California

Mary Lou Dresbach, Director
GEAR UP Minnesota
Minnesota Office of Higher Education

Calvin One Deer Gavin, Director
Palomar College GEAR UP

Troy Grant, Director
Tennessee GEAR UP
Tennessee Higher Education Commission

John Paul Gray, GEAR UP Director
Metro Nashville Public Schools (TN)

Kevin Hall, Director
Oversight and Assessment,
Partners for Education
Berea College

Adam S. Green, Director
West Virginia GEAR UP
Vice Chancellor, Division of Student Affairs, West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission

Angela Jackson, Associate Director
& GEAR UP Hawai'i Project Director, Hawai'i P-20 Partnerships for Education
University of Hawai'i

Ngondi A. Kamatuka, Ph.D., Director
Center for Educational Opportunity Programs, Achievement & Assessment Institute
University of Kansas

Weiya Liang, Director
Washington State GEAR UP
Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board

Melissa Lopez, Administrator
Region One Education Service Center (TX)

Yvonne Lovell, Executive Director
GEAR UP Kentucky
Kentucky Council on
Postsecondary Education

Herminio Martinez, Ph.D., Director
The Bronx GEAR UP Network and Executive Director
Bronx Institute at Lehman College, CUNY

Kate Mahar, Principal Investigator
University of California, Davis GEAR UP
Associate Dean of Foundational Skills
Shasta College

Pratik Mhatre, GEAR UP Director
The University of Texas at Austin

Laurie Miller, State Director
GEAR UP Utah
Utah Valley University

Patrick Milton, Director
Minnesota Office of Higher Education

Linda Morgan, Director
GEAR UP for Success
Eastern Oklahoma State College

Teena Olszewski, Executive Director
Arizona GEAR UP
Northern Arizona University

Eric Packenham, Director and
Principal Investigator
USU STARS! GEAR UP
Utah State University

B. Keith Rogers, Deputy Executive  Director
Center for Academic Enrichment and Outreach, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Linda Shiller, Director
Career and Education
Outreach Development,
Vermont Student Assistance Corporation

Alexandrea Robinson-Rogers, Director
GEAR UP School District of Philadelphia

Maria Rocha-Ruiz, Executive Director
Educational Partnership Center
University of California, Santa Cruz

Wendy M. Stack, Ph.D., Director
Chicago GEAR UP Alliance, Associate Vice President, Access, Innovation and Research, and Executive Director, Center for College Access and Success
Northeastern Illinois University

Lilia Tanakeyowma, Dean of Student Affairs and Director
Office of School and Community Partnerships,
Santa Ana College

Micaela Vazquez-Hahn, Director
GEAR UP 4 LA
Los Angeles Unified School District

Conan A. Viernes, Director
University of Washington GEAR UP

Nadia L. Ward, Ph.D., Associate Professor
Yale University School of Medicine;
Project Director, Yale-Bridgeport GEAR UP Partnership Project

Scott Wilson, Director
Innovative Learning
K20 Center, University of Oklahoma

Karen Woodfaulk, Director
Student Services,
South Carolina Commission on
Higher Education