Class of 2025

Connie Dawes, Director
University of Texas at Austin

Dawn Cooper, Assistant Vice Chancellor of
College Access Initiatives
Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia

Deserie Lozano, Associate Director
California State University at Monterey Bay

Kim Drummond Welch, Executive Director
GEAR UP Kentucky

Michael Lane, Executive Director
Winston-Salem State University (NC)

Class of 2026

Alana Simmons, Director
Dougherty County School System (GA)

Duane Gregg, Director
Tennessee Higher Education Commission

Janicia Centeno-Castillo, Director
Los Angeles Unified School District (CA)

Nicole Saenz, Director
Region One ESC (TX)

Ruben Rocha, Director
Utah Valley University

Class of 2027

Adrienne Enriquez, Director
Oregon State University 

Chad J. Addie, Director
South Bend Community Schools (IN)

Rebecca S. Rogers, Ph.D., Director
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Yvonne Culver, Director
Akron Public Schools (OH)

Former Commissioners

Adam S. Green, Director
West Virginia GEAR UP Vice Chancellor, Division of Student Affairs, West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission

Adriana Badillo, GEAR UP Director California State University, Fullerton

Angela Jackson, Associate Director & GEAR UP Hawai'i Project Director
Hawai'i P-20 Partnerships for Education University of Hawai'i

Ashley Booker, Director Get Ready/MN GEAR UP Minnesota Office of Higher Education

Carlos Bing, State GEAR UP Director
Ohio Department of Higher Education

Charlotte Curtis, Director
Nevada State GEAR UP Nevada Department of Education

Herminio Martinez, Ph.D., Director
The Bronx GEAR UP Network and Executive Director Bronx Institute at Lehman College, CUNY

Jacque Deahl, Project Director
Idaho State Department of Education

John Paul Gray, GEAR UP Director
Metro Nashville Public Schools (TN)

Juliette Caire, GEAR UP Executive Director
University of Texas at El Paso

Kate Mahar, Principal Investigator University of California, Davis GEAR UP Associate Dean of Foundational Skills Shasta College

Kevin Hall, Director Oversight and Assessment
Partners for Education Berea College

Laurie Miller, State Director GEAR UP Utah
Utah Valley University

Linda Morgan, Director
GEAR UP for Success Eastern Oklahoma State College

Lois Bramwell, GEAR UP Director
GEAR UP 4 LA Los Angeles Unified School District (CA)

Martha Cantu, Director
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Mary Callan, GEAR UP Director
GEAR UP Maine

Mary Lou Dresbach, Director
GEAR UP Minnesota

Melissa Lopez, Administrator
Region One Education Service Center (TX)

Ngondi A. Kamatuka, Ph.D., Director Center for Educational Opportunity Programs, Achievement & Assessment Institute University of Kansas

Patrick Milton, Director
Minnesota Office of Higher Education

Pratik Mhatre, GEAR UP Director
The University of Texas at Austin

Robert Dais, Director GEAR UP Massachusetts
Massachusetts Department of Higher Education

Rodolfo Acosta, Director
University of California, Irvine

Samantha Briggs, GEAR UP Director University of Alabama at Birmingham

Shelley Davis, Director
California GEAR UP Office of the President, University of California

Stephanie Carnahan, Project Director Oregon GEAR UP Oregon State University

Tina Atkins, Director
Region One ESC GEAR UP Texas Region One Education Service Center

Tireka Cobb, GEAR UP Director
Louisiana Office of Student Financial Assistance

Traci O. Aucoin, GEAR UP Project Director
Lafayette Parish School System (LA)

Troy Grant, Director
Tennessee GEAR UP Tennessee Higher Education Commission

Weiya Liang, Director
Washington State GEAR UP Washington Higher Education Coordinating Board

Yvonne Lovell, Executive Director
GEAR UP Kentucky Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education