Angélica Garcia

2021-22 Aspen New Presidents Fellow
Dr. Angélica Garcia is an educational leader who is passionate about issues of access, equity, and student success in higher education. For nearly two decades, her professional experiences include teaching and administrative roles in nonprofit organizations, secondary education, and higher education. She has proudly served as the president of Berkeley City College (BCC) since 2020. BCC is recognized for increasing the number of students who earn an associate degree for transfer, and for closing transfer completion gaps for Latinx students.

She is known for her inclusive leadership and successfully leading BCC through recent accreditation and fiscal stabilization efforts. She believes community colleges serve as pathways to liberation for historically minoritized communities and promotes this in institutional reform efforts. Garcia is committed to leading with integrity and promotes building collaborative relationships to build educational institutions that work for equity and racial justice. As vice president of student services at Skyline College, her leadership led to the Promise Scholars Program, focused on increasing two- and three-year graduation rates. She also created the student equity & support programs division, provided leadership for the implementation of Guided Pathways, and led college and district-wide efforts to address food and housing insecurity experienced by students

Garcia’s leadership and equity advocacy includes her appointments to the Student Centered Funding Formula Oversight Committee, the HERS (Higher Education Resource Services) Board of directors, and the vice president and Co-Founder of COLEGAS (California Community College Organización de Latinx Empowerment, Guidance and Advocacy for Success).

Garcia earned a Ph.D. in educational leadership at San Francisco State University, an MSW at San Diego State University and a B.A. in liberal and civic studies at Saint Mary’s College of California.