Eloy Ortiz Oakley

Eloy Ortiz Oakley is an American educator, leader, and advisor and is widely regarded as a leading voice on improving equity in higher education and positioning institutions to respond to global shifts in the workforce and the future of learning.Oakley was appointed president and CEO of the College Futures Foundation on August 1, 2022, where he leads California’s premier philanthropic and postsecondary success organization focused on improving economic mobility for underserved learners through postsecondary credential attainment. Previously, he served for six years as chancellor of the California Community Colleges, leading the nation’s largest and most diverse system of higher education. Under his leadership, California community colleges were positioned as a vital engine for maintaining the global competitiveness of the state’s workforce.In 2021, while on sabbatical, Oakley served as senior advisor to U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and the Biden Administration, supporting the development and communication of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better Agenda for Higher Education and the America’s College Promise proposal. His work includes the establishment of the California College Promise; the design and implementation of the system’s strategic vision, Vision for Success; the elimination of standardized testing; the reform of remedial education; the adoption of a student-centered funding formula; the reform of state-based financial aid for community college students; and the design and launch of California’s first public, fully online, competency-based education college.Oakley serves on the boards of MDRC and Western Governors University and on the Board of Trustees of the University of California, Irvine. He is a regent emeritus of the University of California Board of Regents and currently serves as a commissioner for the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Commission on Opportunities Beyond High School, as well as a member of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Commission on the American Workforce. He also advises several education-related companies, including Guild Education, OpenClassrooms, EdVisorly, and Certree.For his leadership, Oakley has been recognized with the 2014 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award, was named a 2016 President Barack Obama White House Champion of Change, received the 2018 Higher Education Dive President of the Year award, the 2018 Roybal Foundation Medal of Courage in Education, and the 2021 Diverse Champions Award.