Since the announcement of my new role as President of the Campaign for College Opportunity, I have been touched by the countless well wishes and tremendous support for me and the important work we will forge together in the years to come.  

However, as any good leader knows, we cannot do the work alone. One of my greatest joys throughout my tenure at the Campaign has been serving with a dynamic, women-led leadership team. As the Campaign’s President, one of my most important responsibilities is to grow and support the next iteration of the incredible team that will tackle the big, daring, consequential work that will level the educational playing field for California students for generations to come.

That is why I am so excited to share with you the extraordinary leadership team I have assembled to take the Campaign for College Opportunity to the next level and help further realize our mission of college access, student success, and racial equity in higher education: Dr. Feliza Ortiz-Licon, Sara Arce, and Dr. Rita Gallardo Good. 

Combined, these audacious women have over six decades of experience in educational equity, policy advocacy, student supports, and organizational leadership. More than their expertise, they have lived experiences as first-generation Latina college graduates that inspire them to remain student-centered in their work, identify courageous solutions to systemic challenges, and stand up to act with urgency in the face of injustice.

This powerhouse leadership team will be my sounding board, thought partners, and ambassadors in the fight for racial equity in higher education. They will also serve as trusted liaisons to our partners as we seek opportunities for collective impact and solicit feedback that will make us stronger. I am excited for you to get to know each one of them—or reacquaint yourselves with them—in the coming months. 

Beginning in August, we will also feature the profiles of other integral members of the Campaign for College Opportunity team because we want you to get to know the remarkable individuals working diligently to improve racial and economic justice for generations of students. Stay tuned! 

Our future at the Campaign for College Opportunity is bright, and against political uncertainty and threats to roll back student-centered progress, I find strength in Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s words: "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  

Together with you, we are the keepers of justice, and we will not lose faith in what our country, our state, and, most importantly, our students can be. 

Thank you for your continued support of this critical work, and please join me in welcoming the phenomenal Dr. Feliza Ortiz-Licon, Sara Arce, and Dr. Rita Gallardo Good to their new leadership roles. 

PRESIDENT JESSIE RYAN

Meet Dr. Feliza

Ortiz-Licon

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT

Feliza is a dynamic and equity-minded leader with 25 years of experience in advancing educational equity, strengthening the educator workforce, and building organizational capacity to serve vulnerable populations. Feliza started her work in education as an elementary school teacher in Long Beach Unified School District, where she developed her expertise in serving multilingual learners, differentiating instruction to meet students’ academic strengths, and meaningfully engaging parents in their children’s education. In 2015, Governor Jerry Brown appointed Feliza to the California State Board of Education, our state’s K-12 policy-making body for academic standards, curriculum, instructional materials, assessments, and accountability, where she served 6.2 million students for five years. Feliza has served in a research and policymaking role for the second-largest school district in the country and led the education portfolio for the largest Latino civil rights group in the United States.

The Campaign has been proud to work with Feliza in various capacities, such as during her tenure with UnidosUS (formerly the National Council of La Raza), where we collaborated on advocating for transfer legislation (SB 1440, Padilla). Feliza also collaborated with the Campaign while she was the Director of Policy for the Los Angeles Unified School District, Board District 5, partnering with her office to co-author and expand A-G access through a historic resolution that made A-G the district's default curriculum. Additionally, we have closely partnered with her during her time as Board Member of the Los Angeles-based organization, Alliance for a Better Community. Feliza’s broad set of skills and experience positions her well as Executive Vice President to lead as a key strategist for coalition building, policy advocacy, program design, fund development, and research. 

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• Chief of Staff, New Teacher Center
• Principal, Education Programs, UnidosUS
• Board Member, California State Board of Education
• Chief Policy and Advocacy Officer, Latinos for Education
• Director of Policy, Los Angeles Unified School District
• Director of College Access, Fulfillment Fund

Meet Sara Arce

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT OF

PROGRAMS AND STRATEGY

Sara has been with the Campaign for College Opportunity for nearly 10 years. In her former role as Vice President of Policy and Advocacy, she has been instrumental in growing our Sacramento team, significantly expanding our budget influence, strategically driving our policy agenda, and leading policymaker education efforts. Sara has fiercely advocated for some of our state's most transformative policy victories, including establishing equitable placement policies at community colleges, streamlining transfer, restructuring the community college funding model to account for equity, and more. 

In this new role as Senior Vice President of Programs and Strategy, Sara will continue to work expertly across the policy, outreach, research, and communications teams to maximize the Campaign’s impact on behalf of students, overseeing our initiatives from conception to implementation, ensuring alignment and collaboration organization-wide, and supporting continuous improvement and results. 

She previously worked in the California State Capitol for the Chair of the Assembly Higher Education Committee where she skillfully led the Chair’s ambitious education agenda. Sara’s experience also includes working on political campaigns and leading fund development in the non-profit sector. 

KEY CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• Vice President, Policy and Advocacy, Campaign for College Opportunity
• Legislative Aide, State of California, Assembly Higher Education Chair
• Fellow, California Education Policy Fellowship
• Alumna, HOPE Leadership Institute
• Practice and Operations Advisor, California Cradle-to-Career Data System

Meet Dr. Rita

Gallardo Good

VICE PRESIDENT OF PARTNERSHIPS

AND POLICY ENGAGEMENT

Rita has over three decades of experience in state and local government relations, bringing various stakeholders together to improve the lives of women and youth in the state of California. In 2023, Rita was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to serve on the California Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. Rita has also spent the past four years leading government relations and community affairs for Sacramento State University. For thirteen years, she has been a Board member and volunteer of the Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project and was additionally a Mentor for the Puente Project at Sacramento City College. We proudly worked with Rita during her time as a Legislative Consultant for then-California State Senator Alex Padilla, successfully advocating for legislation (SB 1440, SB 440, Padilla) that would establish and strengthen the historic Associate Degree for Transfer, since supporting half a million students with a simplified transfer process.

As Vice President of Partnerships and Policy, Rita will lead the Campaign’s expansive coalition-building efforts, working with partners —including the various coalitions we lead and support — our Higher Education Regional Engagement Hubs, and our policy and student engagement work, which includes our highly successful Student Leadership Institute.

KEY CAREER HIGHLIGHTS

• Senior Associate Vice President, Sacramento State University
• Assistant Director, California State Teachers Retirement System
• Division Chief, Public Employees' Retirement System
• Legislative Consultant, California State Senate
• Board of Directors, Chicano Latino Youth Leadership Project
• Gubernatorial Appointee, California Commission on the Status of Women

 The Campaign for College Opportunity Team at Staff Retreat, Sacramento State University 2024

California leaders celebrate the Campaign's growth