We are thankful to have a wonderful group of individuals advising us in this work. Their experience includes a mix of those who have worked directly in within higher education institutions, states, and systems; with learners, employers, and other stakeholders; and those who have and continue to work to shape policy.
Our goal was to bring together people working across different contexts for change to inform federal policy proposals supporting a reimagined higher education ecosystem. We are finalizing an additional set of student advisors who will join this group—we are excited announce to announce them in the coming days.
Participation in this group does not necessarily constitute endorsement of any the principles, policy proposals, or other ideas shared under the auspices of Higher Ed Reimagined.
Chike Aguh
Head of Innovation & Strategy, Kapor Center
Chike Aguh works to ensure America equips its people for the industries of the future and sees that those industries benefit every American as the inaugural Head of Innovation & Strategy at the Kapor Center. Previously, he was appointed by President Biden as Chief Innovation Officer at the U.S. Department of Labor, leading efforts to use emerging technologies to benefit American workers and a $2 billion modernization of the unemployment insurance system. Aguh also serves as Vice Chair of the Maryland Higher Education Commission, appointed by Gov. Wes Moore.
Beth Akers
Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
Beth Akers is an economist and senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where her research focuses on higher education finance, student lending, and the economic value of postsecondary education. She previously served as a staff economist on the President’s Council of Economic Advisers and held research positions at the Brookings Institution and the Manhattan Institute. She is the author of Making College Pay and Game of Loans and is a frequent commentator on higher education and economic policy.
Viviann Anguiano
Managing Director, Education Policy, Center for American Progress
Viviann Anguiano is an experienced education policy strategist who previously served as director of education at the White House Domestic Policy Council during the Biden-Harris administration. Previously, she held senior roles on the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee under Senators Bernie Sanders and Patty Murray and began her career in higher education in Chicago, including as a college adviser and a founder of Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago. A proud daughter of Mexican immigrants and first-generation college graduate, Viviann earned a B.A. in sociology from Loyola University Chicago and a master’s degree in education policy and management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Bridget Burns
CEO, University Innovation Alliance
Dr. Bridget Burns is the founding CEO of the University Innovation Alliance (UIA), a national coalition of 19 public research universities that serves as a national laboratory for innovation in higher education, testing, scaling, and openly sharing solutions to improve student outcomes and post-college mobility. She brings more than two decades of experience in institutional transformation, systems change, and higher education policy, with particular expertise in moving promising ideas into sustained implementation across complex institutions, state and conference lines, and a network serving more than half a million students. A recipient of the prestigious Clark Kerr Award, Burns has advised state and national leaders on innovation and student success and testified before Congress on artificial intelligence in higher education.
Michael Collins
Vice President of Education, Jobs for the Future
Michael Collins is an education and workforce leader focused on national systems of learning and work. As Vice President of Education at Jobs for the Future (JFF), he leads efforts to strengthen the systems that help people build skills, navigate career transitions, and connect learning to economic opportunity. A Forbes contributor, Collins writes about careers and the future of work, translating systems-level insights into practical guidance for navigating a changing economy.
Martha Coven
Founder, Coven Consulting and the Fresh Ideas Project
Martha Coven is the founder of Coven Consulting, where she provides strategic advising, training, and research services to nonprofits and philanthropies. She is also the creator of the Fresh Ideas Project, teaches courses in public policy, and is the author of Writing on the Job: Best Practices for Communicating in the Digital Age (Princeton University Press). She previously served under President Obama at the Domestic Policy Council and Office of Management and Budget, on the U.S. House leadership staff, and as a nonprofit advocate at Consumers Union and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
Michelle Dimino
Director of Education, Third Way
Michelle Dimino is the director of the education program at Third Way, where she leads federal K-12 and higher education policy strategy and development. Her work centers on driving pragmatic solutions that improve student outcomes, strengthen accountability, and promote quality and transparency across the US education system. Prior to joining Third Way, she held communications and public affairs roles supporting universities and advocating for international education and exchange programs.
Alex Edgar
Losey Visiting Voice, SHRM Foundation
Alex Edgar grew up watching institutions make decisions about young people’s futures without young people’s leadership at the table. Now, as a Gen Z social entrepreneur, Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree, and cofounder of Youth250, he’s changing that by designing the governance systems, civic programs, and philanthropic strategies that give the next generation genuine power to shape the country they’re inheriting.
Joe Garcia
Retired higher education administrator, State of Colorado
Joe Garcia, a graduate of Colorado University and Harvard Law School, recently retired after a 40 year career in higher education as a community college and university president and system chancellor. He also served as Exec. Director of Colorado’s Department of Higher Education and as the state’s Lt. Governor. Throughout his career he advocated for increasing equity, access, and completion for historically underrepresented students.
Andrew Gillen
Research Fellow, Cato Institute
Andrew Gillen is a research fellow at the Cato Institute’s Center for Educational Freedom. His research focuses on the economics of higher education, with an emphasis on federal and state policies related to financial aid, regulation, accreditation, financing, transparency, and accountability. Prior to joining Cato, he spent close to two decades at nonprofit and philanthropic organizations researching and trying to improve higher education.
Dan Greenstein
Chief of Industry Transformation, Ellucian
Daniel Greenstein, Ph.D., is Chief of Industry Transformation at Ellucian, where he leads higher education system strategy and works with university and college leadership, state systems, policymakers, and institutional networks to accelerate transformation. He most recently served as Chancellor of Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education, leading a redesign across 10 universities that improved access, affordability, and student outcomes; earlier he led the Postsecondary Success program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and served as Vice Provost at the University of California Office of the President. His work centers on strategies that drive institutional sustainability, innovation, and student success.
Aurora Harris
Vice President, State Strategy and Partnerships, Young Invincibles
Aurora Harris is a community organizer and policy advocacy strategist whose work centers on building power with young adults through storytelling, cultural organizing, and leadership development. She serves as Vice President of State Strategy and Partnerships at Young Invincibles, where she leads strategy across the organization’s five regions and works to strengthen young adult organizing and advocacy nationwide.
Angela Jackson
Founder, Future Forward Institute
Dr. Angela Jackson is the Founder of Future Forward Institute, a lecturer and researcher at Harvard University, and a recognized authority on the future of work. She is the bestselling author of The Win-Win Workplace, a New York Times, USA Today, and Los Angeles Times bestseller, and helps leaders build high-performing workplaces that increase employee engagement, productivity, and sustainable growth. She advises organizations across sectors on the future of work, workforce innovation, and human-centered leadership.
Su Jin Jez
CEO, California Competes
As CEO of California Competes, Dr. Su Jin Jez leads the organization’s work to develop nonpartisan, evidence-based, and financially pragmatic policies that strengthen California’s higher education and workforce systems. An accomplished researcher and nationally recognized thought leader, she provides research and strategic guidance to higher education and government leaders on economic and workforce development, college success, and institutional effectiveness, with her work shaping conversations on higher education transformation across the United States and internationally. Before joining California Competes, Dr. Jez spent more than a decade as a professor of Public Policy and Administration at California State University, Sacramento, and held several leadership roles in higher education.
Walter Kimbrough
Executive Vice President, UNCF
A native of Atlanta, Dr. Walter M. Kimbrough earned degrees from the University of Georgia, Miami University in Ohio, and Georgia State University. He enjoyed a fulfilling career in student affairs, and age 37, he began a seven-and-a-half-year tenure as president of Philander Smith College, followed by ten years as president of Dillard University, and a year as the interim president of Talladega College. Kimbrough currently serves as the Executive Vice President for Research and Member Engagement at the United Negro College Fund (UNCF).
Doug Lederman
Lederman Advisory Services
Doug Lederman is a journalist, higher education analyst and principal of Lederman Advisory Services. He was editor and co-founder of Inside Higher Ed from 2004 through 2024, where he now writes the “Tough Love” column. He worked as a reporter and editor at The Chronicle of Higher Education from 1986 to 2003, and began his career as a news clerk at The New York Times.
Kent McGuire
Chair of the Board, Philanthropic Collaborative for Education
Dr. Kent McGuire has served in many capacities spanning roles across philanthropy, policy, and public scholarship over the course of his career. He most recently served as Director of the Education Program for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and has previously served as President of the Southern Education Foundation, Dean of the College of Education at Temple University, and Assistant Secretary of Educational Research and Improvement at the US Department of Education during the Clinton administration. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) and the National Academy of Education (NAEd) and serves on several boards, including the boards of the Learning Policy Institute, the Institute for Citizens and Scholars, the Philanthropic Collaborative for Education, and the Wallace Foundation.
Ajita Talwalker Menon
President and CEO, Calbright College
Ajita Talwalker Menon is President and CEO of Calbright College, California’s statewide online public college reimagining higher education for working adults. She focuses on building flexible, affordable, skills-based learning and support models to meet the needs of today’s learners for tomorrow’s economy. Her experience spans leading higher education policy as Special Assistant to the President for Higher Education Policy in the Obama White House and holding senior roles at the U.S. Department of Education and House of Representatives, as well as advising government agencies, higher ed systems, and philanthropies on postsecondary policy and innovation to drive stronger learner outcomes.
Jen Mishory
President, TICAS
Jen Mishory is the President of The Institute for College Access and Success (TICAS). Jen previously served as the Deputy Under Secretary in the U.S. Department of Education and in the White House as First Lady Jill Biden’s Senior Advisor on workforce and education, leading efforts to improve career and technical education, community college and other workforce programs, financial aid, and public benefits access for students.
Ted Mitchell
President, American Council on Education
Ted Mitchell has served as president of the American Council on Education (ACE), the major coordinating body for the nation’s colleges and universities, since September 2017. He came to ACE from the U.S. Department of Education, where he served as under secretary of education, with responsibility for federal postsecondary policy, student aid, and adult and career education. His earlier career includes the presidency of Occidental College, leadership roles at UCLA and Dartmouth, and service as CEO of the NewSchools Venture Fund and president of the California State Board of Education.
Melanie Muenzer
Melanie is currently the President of Empowered Higher Education Consulting that works with higher education institutions, state agencies, nonprofit organizations, and advocacy groups improve student outcomes and organizational effectiveness. She previously served for more than a decade at the U.S. Department of Education in senior higher education roles under both the Obama and Biden Administrations. Melanie has served as a Vice Provost and Associate Vice President at the University of Oregon and was on the Board of Education for Lane Community College.
Yolanda Watson Spiva
President, Complete College America
Dr. Yolanda Watson Spiva has spent three decades across nearly every corner of higher education — federal policy, academic administration, and national nonprofit leadership — before becoming President of Complete College America in 2018. Under her leadership, CCA became one of six national partners in the Gates Foundation’s Intermediaries for Scale initiative and launched a network aligning academic programs with workforce needs at predominantly Black and historically Black community colleges across eight states. She holds a Ph.D. in higher education from Georgia State University, alongside degrees from Spelman College and the University of Chicago, and coauthored an NAACP Image Award-nominated book on higher education history.
Deb Santiago
CEO, Excelencia in Education
Deborah A. Santiago is the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Excelencia in Education. She believes in the power of higher education to link opportunity and talent. For more than 20 years, she has led efforts from the community to national and federal levels to improve educational opportunities and success for all students. She co-founded Excelencia to inform policy and practice, compel action, and collaborate with those ready to increase student success.
Martha Snyder
Partner, HCM Strategists
Martha Snyder is a partner at HCM Strategists, where she leads the firm’s postsecondary portfolio and advises states, systems, institutions, and foundations on higher education finance and student-centered policy design. A national expert on postsecondary funding models, she has testified before state legislatures and worked with policymakers across the country — including recently in Texas, Oregon, and Illinois — on funding formulas that better align state goals with student needs. Her work spans affordable student pathways, K–12 to postsecondary transitions, and outcomes-based approaches to state finance.
Brittany Stitch
Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor; Co-Founder, Guild
Brittany Stich leads workforce strategy at RAISE US, a nonpartisan national organization partnering with governors, employers, and training providers to help American workers train, transition, and thrive in an economy transformed by AI. She co-founded Guild, a company that partners with Fortune 1000 employers to provide education and upskilling to their frontline workers, and served as Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Employment and Training Administration and as a White House Fellow on the Domestic Policy Council. A former classroom teacher, Brittany worked in community colleges building honors programs and transfer pathways to four-year institutions, served as a Commissioner on the Colorado Commission on Higher Education, and holds a doctorate in higher education management from the University of Pennsylvania and an MBA and M.A. in Education from Stanford.