Tanisha M.J. Maxwell

2022-23 Aspen Rising Presidents Fellow
Dr. Tanisha M.J. Maxwell has over 20 years of experience in higher education, 18 years of Student Affairs higher education experience within the Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), 10 years of experience as residential faculty at Estrella Mountain Community College (EMCC), and eight years of progressively responsible executive administrative leadership experience within multi-community college district systems. She is a first-generation college student, a product of both the California and Arizona community college systems, a licensed psychologist in the state of Arizona, and a Peer Corps reviewer for the Higher Learning Commission regional accrediting body. Her educational credentials include a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from Arizona State University, an M.A. from the University of Missouri-Columbia in Counseling Psychology, and a B.A. in Psychology with a minor in Sociology from Arizona State University.

As the inaugural vice president of student services at Los Medanos College (LMC), Maxwell provides executive leadership as the Chief Student Services Officer. She is a tri-chair for the college’s Strategic Enrollment Management initiatives and leads the vaccination and COVID protocol vetting and approval processes for all LMC students receiving in-person instruction and/or services. Dr. Maxwell has engaged in over 20 years of commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives throughout her professional career.

Maxwell’s professional mission is to encourage learning, innovation, and collaboration designed to enhance professional development and morale while furthering the purpose of the institutional mission, vision, and core values in an effort to foster equitable student success both in and out of the classroom. She is an executive leader who is culturally competent, futuristic, innovative, strategic, collaborative and audacious in her unwavering commitment to equity, holistic student development, and transformational student success. She lives with her husband of 20 years and they are very proud of their two young adult sons.