Calbright’s President and CEO Ajita Talwalker Menon is joining a select group of innovative education, research, and policy leaders on the Advisory Group of Higher Education Reimagined. Together, they will rethink how higher education serves students and society, and how the federal government can best support that evolution.
The work of Higher Education Reimagined will begin with listening – both individually and on “listening sessions” in communities across the country to develop design principles and policy proposals grounded in the needs and experiences of current and future students.
This is work that President Menon, and Calbright College, have significant experience in, having focused from the beginning on students that traditional higher education systems did not have in mind when they were created. This includes parents and caregivers, students turning to college in their 30s, 40 and 50s to upskill and reskill, and working-age adults looking to remain competitive in an evolving job market by earning job-focused certificates.
Calbright was designed by the state of California to make higher education accessible to non-traditional students and often marginalized communities, and to be a research institution exploring and refining best practices in adult online higher education for California’s community college system. Calbright’s research model focuses on the continuous gathering of real time information – from current and potential students, from hiring managers, industry experts, and economic forecasters – to design programs that will meet the ongoing needs of adult learners in all stages of life. Listening is followed by constant iteration based on continuous feedback, establishing a virtuous cycle of innovation and improvement to support real people.
This has led to industry leading pilot programs in areas that include the development of “durable skills” education, effective online tutoring, meeting adult learners’ “basic needs” outside of the classroom, and work-based learning, where Calbright has been cited as a national model.
“With congressional shifts anticipated this November and federal education and workforce policy continuing to evolve, it’s an honor to join my colleagues with Higher Education Reimagined. This provides us an opportunity to shape policies grounded in practical implementation and real community impact, ensuring federal investment drives lasting economic mobility for every learner,” said President Menon. “To build a system that delivers on higher education’s promise, we have to look past old playbooks and seize a new way of rethinking how our education and workforce training systems operate together for adult learners.”
Planning for the first listening sessions is already underway.
In addition to President Menon, other members of the Advisory Group include:
- Chike Aguh, Head of Innovation & Strategy, Kapor Center
- Beth Akers, Senior Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
- Viviann Anguiano, Managing Director, Center for American Progress
- Bridget Burns, CEO, University Innovation Alliance
- Michael Collins, Vice President of Education, Jobs for the Future
- Martha Coven, Founder, Coven Consulting and the Fresh Ideas Project
- Michelle Dimino, Director of Education, Third Way
- Alex Edgar, Losey Visiting Voice, SHRM Foundation
- Joe Garcia, Retired higher education administrator, State of Colorado
- Andrew Gillen, Research Fellow, Cato Institute
- Dan Greenstein, Chief of Industry Transformation, Ellucian
- Aurora Harris, Vice President, State Strategy and Partnerships, Young Invincibles
- Angela Jackson, Founder, Future Forward Institute
- Su Jin Jez,CEO, California Competes
- Walter Kimbrough, Executive Vice President, UNCF
- Doug Lederman, Lederman Advisory Services
- Kent McGuire, Chair of the Board, Philanthropic Collaborative for Education
- Jen Mishory, President, TICAS
- Ted Mitchell, President American Council on Education (ACE)
- Melanie Muenzer, President, Empowered Higher Education Consulting
- Yolanda Watson Spiva, President, Complete College America
- Deb Santiago, CEO, Excelencia in Education
- Martha Snyder, Partner, HCM Strategists
- Brittany Stitch, Former Deputy Assistant Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor; Co-Founder, Guild
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