Ajita Talwalker Menon is President and CEO of Calbright College. She leads the college in helping underserved Californians gain greater economic mobility and providing skilled talent for hiring employers. She has dedicated her career to supporting government agencies, higher education institutions and systems, and nonprofit organizations to drive better and more equitable outcomes in higher education and workforce training. Ms. Menon previously served in the Obama Administration as Special Assistant to the President for Higher Education Policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council where she led efforts to expand college opportunity, affordability, innovation, and completion, ensuring more Americans could access the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the nation’s growing economy. She has also held senior roles in the federal government at the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. House of Representatives, in addition to her more recent work as Senior Advisor to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. Ms. Menon firmly believes in Calbright’s potential to tackle income inequality through new high-quality learning opportunities designed to fit the lives of working adults, and respond to the talent challenge facing California employers. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a master’s degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughter. 

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