SACRAMENTO – The California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office is pleased to announce leadership changes within the agency: Van Ton-Quinlivan was promoted to executive vice chancellor for Workforce and Digital Futures and Dr. Catherine Kendall joined the agency to serve as the new vice chancellor for Digital Innovation and Infrastructure.

“I am thrilled Executive Vice Chancellor Ton-Quinlivan has taken an increased role in our agency. She is unparalleled in her expertise in workforce development and we are beyond fortunate to have someone with her know-how working on behalf of our students,” said California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley. “I’m equally delighted to welcome Vice Chancellor Kendall to the Chancellor’s Office. She is a seasoned veteran who brings great experience and knowledge to our team and joins Van in evolving the technology and data architecture for our system in ways that will benefit both our colleges and students.”

Executive Vice Chancellor for Workforce and Digital Futures Van Ton-Quinlivan is charged with ensuring that the agency’s statewide technology and data initiatives help the system’s 114 colleges achieve ambitious student completion and equity goals as defined in the newly adopted Vision for Success.

Ton-Quinlivan’s focus for Digital Futures will build upon insights from the report Charting New Paths to the Future prepared by the Institute for the Future, which looks at the question of how can a large, established, and distributed system keep up and provide innovative solutions for its students in an era of rapid change.

Appointed by the governor in 2011 as vice chancellor of Workforce & Economic Development, Executive Vice Chancellor Ton-Quinlivan is a nationally recognized thought leader in workforce development with a proven track record for implementing large-scale system change.

She spearheaded the groundbreaking Strong Workforce Task Force in California that shifted workforce from an afterthought to a policy priority for the state, which resulted in the governor signing the Strong Workforce Program into law along with a commitment of $200 million in on-going funds for career technical education.

Ton-Quinlivan’s leadership focus on Doing What MATTERS for Jobs and the Economy successfully consolidated California's two apprenticeship programs, integrated the adult education systems comprised of 300+ providers, regionalized the planning of career technical education across the system and delivered on new data tools to increase transparency for colleges and students on the effectiveness of workforce programs.

Prior to joining the Chancellor’s Office, Ton-Quinlivan oversaw workforce development for Pacific Gas & Electric, a large gas and electric utility company in California. She conceived, developed and implemented PowerPathway, a best practice model program in workforce development recognized by the White House and industry.

PowerPathway demonstrates that collaboration between industry, the public workforce system, education and organized labor can effectively help military veterans and members of underserved communities transition into well-paying energy sector jobs.

Vice Chancellor for Digital Innovation and Infrastructure Dr. Catherine Kendall is responsible for maximizing the systemwide benefit to technology-focused initiatives.

She will work closely with Chancellor’s Office staff, community college leadership and staff to improve student experience and outcomes through the innovative application of educational technology and data resources as called for in the Vision for Success.

Her role includes leadership within each of the following functional areas: Management Information Systems, Network Support and Operations, and Telecommunications and Technology Product Management.

Dr. Kendall brings more than 20 years of experience in the information technology field, where her work has focused primarily on the public sector. She will transition from her role as chief information officer for the California Department of Conservation, where she was responsible for developing the mission, vision and 2017 IT strategic plan to enable department business objectives.

Dr. Kendall has deep expertise in the use of big data and analytics to support decision-making optimized operations and improve IT service delivery.

Dr. Kendall earned a bachelor’s degree in agriculture and managerial economics, as well as a master’s degree in business and IT management from the University of California, Davis. Her Ed.D., with a focus in education policy analysis, is from Drexel University.

The California Community Colleges is the largest system of higher education in the nation composed of 72 districts and 114 colleges serving 2.1 million students per year.

For more information about the community colleges, please visit http://californiacommunitycolleges.cccco.edu/, https://www.facebook.com/CACommColleges or https://twitter.com/CalCommColleges.