Linda Collins is Founder and Executive Director of the Career Ladders Project (CLP), a non-profit organization working to foster educational and career advancement for Californians through research, policy and strategic support to community colleges and their education, community and workforce partners. Linda is also founding Executive Director of LearningWorks, a partnership linking knowledge, policy and practice to improve student achievement in the California Community Colleges (CCC).
Linda has provided leadership to a number of large scale initiatives and educational reform efforts in California. Currently, Linda is working with the CCC Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) to support the state’s Guided Pathways effort, a systemic approach intended to dramatically increase the number of students who successfully achieve their goals. She worked with the CCCCO to develop the Ladders of Opportunity policy initiative and the statewide Career Advancement Academy demonstration project connecting disconnected young adults to postsecondary credentials and high-wage career pathways. Her team currently supports the Bridging the Gap (BtG) initiative funded by the James Irvine Foundation bringing together high schools, community colleges, and CSU to increase the numbers of low income high school students who successfully transition to, and succeed in, their first year of college.
Linda frequently consults on state and national education and workforce policy. Linda currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Linked Learning Alliance and she is an advisor and partner to Just Equations: Advancing a Mathematics of Opportunity. Linda is a founding board member of the non-partisan California EDGE Coalition, which includes business, labor, community colleges, workforce boards and social justice organizations.
Previously, Linda served as President of the Academic Senate for CCCs and was founding director of the Intersegmental Major Preparation Articulated Curriculum, a major initiative to improve articulation across California’s higher education segments. She taught sociology and interdisciplinary studies at Los Medanos College.