Monica Lozano, a widely respected leader with strong experience in the realms of business, news media, philanthropy, and education, has been named the new President & CEO of College Futures Foundation.

“Monica Lozano’s defining qualities—intelligence and integrity—will serve College Futures well. We are lucky to have her, but we are not the only ones. Her leadership will greatly benefit the students of this state, and California’s future depends on their success,” said Russ Gould, chair of the College Futures Foundation board of directors.

College Futures is a private foundation working to help students who are low-income and underrepresented in higher education achieve college success by increasing their rate of bachelor’s degree attainment and closing the racial, ethnic, and gender gaps that begin in high school or earlier and persist through college completion.

“Monica brings creative thinking, heart, and exceptional business acumen to all of her professional endeavors,” said Gould. “She is an exceptional person with great passion for our mission, and the right choice to help achieve our vision of ensuring that every qualified student in California has the opportunity to succeed in college.”

Over the course of her career, Lozano has been involved with a wide variety of non-profit, corporate, education-focused, and philanthropic organizations. She brings to this position deep and diverse experiences as an executive, advisor, and leader.

She is currently a member of the board of directors of the Rockefeller Foundation and the University of California Board of Regents and serves as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Commission on the Future of Undergraduate Education. She chairs the Weingart Foundation Board of Trustees as well as the Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Program, an initiative dedicated to increasing the awareness of the growing Latino community and its important contributions to all aspects of American society.

Lozano was the publisher of La Opinión, the largest Spanish language newspaper in the U.S., and served as CEO of ImpreMedia and chair of US Hispanic Media, Inc.

Previously, she was a trustee of the University of Southern California for more than 20 years and was also a member of the California State Board of Education. An appointee of President Obama to the Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, Lozano also served on the President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. Recently, she received the 2017 Los Angeles Business Person of the Year award and was named one of the Fortune Magazine 50 Most Influential Latinas in the country.

“I am excited to join College Futures Foundation in addressing what I consider to be a moral, social, and economic imperative: improving educational opportunity and unlocking potential for all of our young people,” said Lozano.

“Nearly two thirds of California’s public school students are from low-income families or from population groups that historically have had low rates of college success. These students are our future workforce, civic and community leaders, voters, and parents of the next generation,” she continued. “Their success is our shared success, so a clear pathway to opportunity through higher education attainment must be accessible to them.”

There will be a period of transition before Lozano assumes the role full-time in December 2017. She succeeds Julia Lopez, who led the Foundation from 2008 until her retirement in June of this year.

Under Lopez’s guidance, College Futures shifted from a focus on college access as a grantor of student scholarships to a focus on college attainment, working on changing policies, practices, systems, and institutions to better support student readiness and effective transitions along the degree completion pathway. During her tenure, the Foundation developed its statewide leadership as well as its ability to learn and improve.

“We are grateful to Julia for her outstanding efforts to expand the foundation’s vision and move us towards more effective strategy and investments in the name of student opportunity,” said Donna Lucas, vice chair of the board of College Futures. “We know that Monica will bring her own acuity, influence, and energy to the role. She is a superb choice for the next phase of our work.”

 

About College Futures Foundation

College Futures is a private foundation working to help low-income students and others who are underrepresented in higher education earn baccalaureate degrees. The Foundation operates on the belief that every qualified student in California should have the opportunity to succeed in college and it recognizes that creating a vibrant future for our state requires awarding more bachelor’s degrees to broader populations of students.

Established in 2005, College Futures supports work under the following areas: building regional education planning capacity and alignment; improving the throughput of regional high school to B.A. education pipelines; aligning policy and practice for better student outcomes; and providing a nurturing and enabling environment for student success.

For more information about the foundation, visit www.collegefutures.org