Jennifer Taylor-Mendoza, Ph.D.

Dr. Jennifer Taylor-Mendoza is the vice president of instruction at Skyline College in California. She supports eight academic divisions, including Academic Support and Learning Technologies, Global Learning Programs and Services, Strategic Partnerships and Workforce Development, and the Bay Area Entrepreneur Center. Skyline College serves a diverse population of nearly 10,000 students.

In her seventeen years of experience as a community college educator—as a tenured faculty leader, director, dean, and vice president—she has been continually inspired by the brilliance, power, and endless potential of community college students. Her areas of expertise range from program development and assessment to enrollment management and strategic planning. Systemic change and collective action are her passion; she is committed to redesigning institutional policies and practices to transform lives, to increase access, and to promote upward mobility.

She has served as secretary and board member of the Umoja Community Education Foundation. She currently serves on the board of directors of the Human Investment Project (HIP) Housing, a nonprofit organization that provides creative and affordable housing solutions.

Dr. Taylor-Mendoza is a proud alumna of El Camino College, the institution she credits for her own early transformation. She holds a B.A. in psychology, California State University, Los Angeles; an M.S. in counseling, California State University, Northridge; and a Ph.D. in education, Claremont Graduate University. Dr. Taylor-Mendoza teaches in the educational leadership program at San Francisco State University. She is coauthor of a forthcoming book, Minding the Obligation Gap in Community Colleges: Theory and Practice in Achieving Educational Equity.