Rachel Pokrandt

Rachel Pokrandt is the president of Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon. Rachel holds a B.A. in theatre and British literature from Manchester City University in the United Kingdom, an MBA from Western Governors University, and a Ph.D. in management from the Swiss Management Center, Zurich. Rachel served as vice president and campus dean at the Leadville and Chaffee County Campuses of Colorado Mountain College, and dean of instruction at Front Range Community College in Fort Collins, Colorado, with oversight over technical trades, concurrent enrollment and health sciences.

Rachel served as director of education at Beyond Benign and the Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry, and the director of professional education and leadership at the Keystone Policy Center. In these roles she led teams working with industry and government partners such as the EPA, NASA, U.S. Department of Energy, DuPont, Dow Chemical, and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, providing sustainability training for Professionals and K-12 and post-secondary educators in 11 countries. In addition to team management, curriculum development and teaching responsibilities Rachel secured over $5 million in government and private funding to support this work.

Rachel lives in Roseburg, Oregon with her husband and dog Spike and is an avid cyclist, hiker and skier.