Strategic communications

Two students working together in a community setting.

The strategic communications team is dedicated to telling the story of how Strada works to connect education with opportunity, especially for those with the most standing in their way.

The team shares this story with those best positioned to influence the education and employment systems Strada seeks to change: policymakers, postsecondary education leaders, and employers. Through collaboration and creativity, the strategic communications team supports the organization’s most important work.

Where we focus

Communications supports the work of Strada, which is grounded in five focus areas:

Clear Outcomes: Everyone has access to accurate information about employment outcomes that can help them make informed decisions about postsecondary education.‍
Quality Coaching: Everyone has access to coaching that helps them reflect on their talents and interests, choose a career goal, map pathways through education, and navigate challenges.‍
Affordability: A quality education is within everyone’s reach. The cost of education is not an insurmountable obstacle for students.‍
Work-Based Learning: All learners have access to work-based learning experiences – including paid internships and apprenticeships – which help connect their education and career aspirations.‍
Employer Alignment: All learners have access to programs that lead to quality jobs and mobility, and employers assess and advance individuals based on skills and experience, not only degrees.

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How we advocate

The strategic communications team supports Strada’s goal of better connecting education with work through engaging with media, ensuring research is actionable and user-friendly, refining presentations, communicating updates, and telling stories about the work of the partners Strada supports.

Celebrating the best of the past, striving for the best of the future

‍In 2025, Strada’s look and brand image will change to reflect its commitment to working with focus, connection, curiosity, agility, and optimism — qualities that undergird its efforts as it tackles the hard questions about connecting education with opportunity.

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Subscribe to the Strada newsletter

Through its digital newsletter, Strada shares updates about how the programs, policies, and organizations it supports are strengthening connections between postsecondary education and economic opportunity in the U.S.

Follow Strada on LinkedIn‍

At Strada, we’re focused on one goal: helping clear the path between education and work, especially for those with the most standing in their way.

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State Opportunity Index

‍Offering a framework to help policymakers, higher education system leaders, and institutions strengthen the link between education and opportunity, the State Opportunity Index centers on five research-backed keys to improve outcomes for learners and employers alike.

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Our team

Rooney Columbus

Ernest J. Newborn II

Chairman of the board, Strada

Makola M. Abdullah, Ph.D.

President, Virginia State University

Akua Amankwah-Ayeh

Research associate

Roslyn Clark Artis, Ed.D.

President, Benedict College

Michael Austin

Executive vice president and chief financial officer

Lara Bach

Director, work-based learning

Peter Bahr

Vice president of employer engagement and managing research director of the Strada Institute for the Future of Work

Alicia Baird

Director, grants programs

Kyle Baltuch

Vice president, employer alignment

Beth Bean

Jason Bearce

Vice president, Midwest state government relations

Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C.

Emeritus trustee

Katie Blanchard

Senior researcher

Dana Brandt

Vice president, state data system advancement, clear outcomes

Aminta H. Breaux, Ph.D.

President, Bowie State University

Stephanie Breen

Director, research

Courtney Brown

Alexis Calvin

Project manager

Lori J. Carrell, Ph.D.

Chancellor, University of Minnesota Rochester

Laurie Casey

Executive assistant, policy and advocacy

Summer Casillas

Director, research

Michele Chang

Chief strategy officer

Sureel A. Choksi

President and chief executive officer, Vantage Data Centers

Dave Clayton

Senior vice president, research

Beth Cobert

President, affiliates and strategic partnerships

Crystal Collins

Vice president, state affordability initiatives

Aristide Collins Jr.

Executive vice president, chief administrative officer, and chief of staff

Andrea Contreras

Executive assistant, clear outcomes

Marlene V. Coulis

President (retired), Coulis Consulting

Holly Custard

Senior director, learning mobility and strategic partnerships, clear outcomes

Thomas Dawson

President, Strada Collaborative

Stacy Delapenha

Vice president, apprenticeship and employer engagement

Amber Denney

Director of media relations

Justin Draeger

Senior vice president, affordability

Victoria Dunn

Director, quality coaching, innovation and impact

Wade T. Dyke, Ph.D.

Former president, American Public University System

Carol D’Amico

Chantée Eldridge

Senior vice president, learner engagement, and chief community officer

Sue Ellspermann, Ph.D.

President, Ivy Tech Community College of Indiana

Maria Ferguson

Vice president, content

Mike Flores, Ph.D.

Chancellor, Alamo Colleges District

Jon Furr

Senior vice president and chief data ecosystem officer

Alicia Garceau

Sowmya Ghosh

Clark Gilbert

Gabriella Gómez

Executive vice president, policy, advocacy, and communications

Daryl Graham

Senior vice president, HBCU and engagement

Lucas Greer

Senior researcher

Marshall Grigsby, Ph.D.

Emeritus trustee; former president, Benedict College

Kevin Grubb

Vice president, work-based learning

Harry Guinivan

Communications associate

Leonard Gurin

Senior vice president, cash and investments

Michael Hanagan

Investment associate, strategic investments

Andrew Hanson

Senior director, employer alignment

Leonard Haynes III, Ph.D.

Former U.S. assistant secretary for postsecondary education and former acting president, Grambling State University

Brian Hendrickson

Senior advisor, special projects and initiatives

Jessica Hinkle

Senior vice president, strategic investments

Terry Holloway

Senior vice president and chief human resources officer

Tamara Ita

Senior program manager, clear outcomes

Natasha Jankowski

Angelo Jasa-Phillips

Director, digital and social media

Nicole Thorne Jenkins, Ph.D.

John A. Griffin Dean of the McIntire School of Commerce, University of Virginia

Kimberly Johnson

Vice provost of undergraduate education and student success, University of Oregon

Jason Johnson

Senior director, campaigns and creative services

Ruth Jones, Ph.D.

Former deputy division chief, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

Doris Juarez

Project manager, postsecondary education

Emily Kinard

Director, federal government relations

Michael D. King

Vice president and general manager, global education industry (retired), IBM

Melissa Leavitt

Vice president, quality coaching, postsecondary education

Elaine W. Leigh

Sebastian Lemire

Senior director, evaluation and learning

Adena Williams Loston, Ph.D.

President, St. Philip's College

Laura Love

Senior vice president, work-based learning

Larry Lutz

Executive vice president, corporate development

Thomas B. Mangas

Founder and chief executive officer, Centerfire Capital

Courtney H. McBeth

Heather McKay

Senior vice president of employer engagement and executive director of the Strada Institute for the Future of Work

Mo McKenna

Christopher Meyer

Senior vice president, strategy and innovation

Grace Moore

Project coordinator, HBCU

Erik I. Moreno

Executive vice president, corporate development and M&A, Sony Pictures Entertainment

Stephen Moret

President and chief executive officer

Ilene Nagel, Ph.D.

Emeritus trustee

William R. Neale, Esq.

Emeritus trustee

Laura McCoolidge Nguyen

Vice president, strategic investments

Todd Oldham

Vice president and director, education analytics and technical services

Rev. Gerard (Gerry) J. Olinger, C.S.C.

Vice president for student affairs, University of Notre Dame

Damien E. Padilla

Senior manager, HBCU partnerships and outcomes

Stephen Payne

Senior director, institutional affordability initiatives

Rhonda Powell

Executive vice president, chief legal officer, and corporate secretary

April Prak

Director of data science, clear outcomes

Kathy Qu

Seth Reichlin

Travis Reindl

Senior vice president and chief communications officer

Mark Rigdon

Senior vice president, state government relations

Lydia Riley

Director of academic affairs, University of Texas System

Craig Robinson

Senior vice president, quality coaching

Quinton Ross Jr., Ed.D.

President, Alabama State University

Yustina Saleh

Related insights

New Report: Vast Majority of Recent Public College Graduates See Return on College Investment Within 10 Years

The 2025 State Opportunity Index Looks at Achievement After Graduation.

State Opportunity Index event brings together state leaders, highlights promising approaches

More than 300 education and industry leaders from 36 U.S. states came together to learn from one another about how states are connecting education after high school with conomic opportunity.

Policy solutions: 5 questions for Strada’s Gabriella Gómez

Over the course of her career, Strada Executive Vice President Gabriella Gómez has focused on how to use federal and state policy to provide better access to opportunities in education.

Two students walking and talking on a campus.

Celebrating the best of the past, striving for the best of the future

In 2025, Strada's look and brand image will change to reflect our commitment to working with focus, connection, curiosity, agility, and optimism — qualities that will guide us and undergrid all our efforts.

Media contact

Reach out to engage with Strada research or request an interview.