East Palo Alto Leader to Serve as 2016 Commencement Speaker

Cañada College is pleased to announce Laura Martinez as Commencement Speaker for its 48th annual ceremony, which will be held on Saturday, May 28, 2016 at 10 a.m. 

Raised in East Palo Alto, Laura has spent more than a decade working with East Palo Alto youth (and their families) and is keenly aware of the community concerns that still need support. In fact, her passion to educate youth on the importance of preparing for college, career readiness and participating in extracurricular activities was a driving force behind her desire to become a leader in her community.

In 2008, Laura became the first Latina council member to serve the City of East Palo Alto.  In 2011, at the age of 27, she was elected the youngest serving, and first Latina mayor, in East Palo Alto’s history. While she served as city council member and mayor, Laura worked to successfully balance the city’s budget without layoffs, prioritized the economic development plan and promoted health and recreation by supporting the city’s first open space park. She also worked to bring a full-service grocery store to East Palo Alto, helped to improve safety through building more sidewalks to schools and supported a gang dismantling operation reducing overall crime by 15 percent. In addition, she was selected by Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal as one of the “Top 100 Women of Influence” in 2012 and “40 Under 40” in 2015. Laura was appointed to the Sequoia Union High School District and served as a Trustee from March-December 2015. In addition, she is an Expanded Learning Director at Aspire Public Schools, supporting students and families at East Palo Alto Phoenix Academy. She serves on the board of East Palo Alto Police Activities League.

“As the first in her family to graduate from a four-year college,” noted Interim President Jennifer Hughes, “our graduates and their families will undoubtedly find inspiration in Laura’s story.” Laura received a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology, with a minor in Spanish, from Whittier College. She currently resides in East Palo Alto.

What's Happening at Cañada? Week of March 21, 2016

‪Cañada Community Partners with Second Harvest Food Bank in Can Sort

Today, 18 members of our campus community (students, staff and administration) participated in a Can Sort for Second Harvest Food Bank. In only 1.5 hours, our team helped sort 6,000 pounds of food that will be distributed to families throughout the Peninsula, including our own SparkPoint Food Pantry. 

A special thank you to members of Cañada College’s Associated Students, SparkPoint, Upward Bound and the President’s Office/Marketing & Outreach for participating in the event.  ‪We had a great time serving our community! #iCANserve

Cañada College Selects Kim Lopez as Vice President of Student Services

Cañada College Selects Kim Lopez

as Vice President of Student Services

Cañada College is pleased to announce the appointment of Kim Lopez as Vice President of Student Services. Kim, who has worked at Cañada College since 2011, has served as Interim Vice President of Student Services since July 2015. Prior to her Interim position, she served as the College’s Dean of Counseling, Advising and Matriculation and the Dean of Enrollment Services. 

Throughout her tenure at Cañada College, Kim has been an outstanding leader for Student Services, spearheading significant initiatives aimed at increasing student access and success, as well as expanding important partnerships within the community the College serves. Some of these endeavors include: the Multiple Measures Assessment Pilot Project, establishment of a SparkPoint Program and development of the Coding program with Sequoia District Adult School and JobTrain.  Additionally, Kim has worked closely with Cañada College faculty and staff to develop and implement the Student Support Services Program (SSSP) and Student Equity Plan.

“Kim’s leadership and demonstrated commitment to Cañada’s mission, paired with her direct experience administering programs for underrepresented students and collaborative relationships with faculty and staff, ensures that Cañada will continue to provide outstanding programs and services to current and future students,” said Cañada College Interim President, Jennifer Hughes. “I am confident that Kim will lead, support and advance the many exceptional programs and initiatives that Cañada College has established and continue to spearhead many more programs for the College in the future.”

Prior to Cañada College, Kim held Administrative and Faculty positions at the College of the Siskiyous, where she served as the Director for EOPS, CARE, CalWORKs and TRIO; she also served as Counselor and President of the Academic Senate. She has experience in the UC and CSU systems, having served as the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at UC San Diego and Director of the Ronald E. McNair Program at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Kim has also worked at the College of Micronesia where she successfully established and directed the college’s first Upward Bound program. 

Kim holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from UC Santa Barbara and a Master’s degree in Education from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.