Rosannett Rimando-Chareunsap, Ed.D.

Dr. Rosie Rimando-Chareunsap was appointed President of South Seattle College in Washington effective July 1, 2018, and also serves as the vice chancellor of equity, diversity, and inclusion for the Seattle district. She has been serving the students and community of colleagues at South since 2000, when she started as a student success specialist in the TRiO Educational Talent Search and Upward Bound programs, working with first-generation college-bound youth in the area.

Since then, Dr. Rimando-Chareunsap has maintained her focus on serving underrepresented students and increasing the college's capacity to support diverse populations through her leadership work in outreach, advising, various federal grants, and most recently at the executive level as South's vice president of student services since 2012. Dr. Rimando-Chareunsap is also a recognized collaborative leader and colleague across the Seattle district, and in the area, having served as a board member for the White Center Community Development Association, and working collaboratively with various local organizations. Currently, Dr. Rimando-Chareunsap is lending her leadership in the city-wide effort to implement Mayor Jenny Durkan’s ambitious Seattle Promise program by representing the colleges in this effort and serving on the city's design team to implement the work. Seattle Promise is largely modeled after the 13th Year Promise Scholarship program, started by the South Seattle College Foundation in 2008.

In addition to her leadership at South and locally, Dr. Rimando-Chareunsap has been a leader on a statewide level, serving on the executive committee of the Washington State Student Services Commission, where she has emphasized a focus on equity across the statewide system by leading statewide efforts supporting DREAMer students, and other efforts to strengthen equity approaches in student affairs. Nationally, Dr. Rimando-Chareunsap is also recognized for her leadership and commitment to equity, having been invited to speak on numerous occasions about her experiences in guided pathways leadership and weaving equity into that work, as well as about her experiences as a woman of color in higher education leadership.

Dr. Rimando-Chareunsap is a South Seattle College Otter through and through, and also a proud WSU Cougar. She has earned a B.A. in English and ethnic studies from Washington State University, a master of public administration from University of Washington, and a doctorate of education from WSU. Most importantly, Dr. Rimando-Chareunsap is a dedicated family woman, the proud partner of a two-time South graduate (A.A. and B.A.S.), mother of one South Child Care Center preschool graduate, and another currently in South’s child care toddler program. She has deep roots, as well as many branches and leaves, at South and in the West Seattle and White Center community.