During its annual Fellows’ Retreat in June, Complete College America (CCA) named Ivy Tech Community College Indianapolis Chancellor Dr. Lorenzo Esters as one of its newest national fellows. Fellows represent the nations’ leading experts that shape the college completion movement.
Dr. Esters began his tenure with the College on July 1, 2021, after serving as vice president for Advancement and Member Engagement with the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU). His professional experiences have been uniquely centered on generating philanthropic and institutional capacity to support student access, completion and career readiness efforts, particularly for those from marginalized backgrounds.
Before his time with the AACU, Dr. Esters served as executive director for Higher Education Partnerships within the Global Education Division of Educational Testing Service. In this role, he led the “Skills for a New Economy Initiative,” which focused on creating new solutions for workplace success by visualizing the skills, capabilities and knowledge needed to thrive in a changing economy.
He also served as vice president for philanthropy at Strada Education Network, a nonprofit corporation located in Indianapolis, Indiana, as well as the inaugural vice president for Student Success and Enrollment Management at Kentucky State University. Additionally, Dr. Esters had served as vice president for the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities’ Office for Access.
CCA Fellows are a select group of leaders who have dedicated themselves to student success, embracing bold reform, and implementing CCA’s pillars of student success transformation. Fellows work closely with CCA, sharing their knowledge with the Alliance, and come together to confront and overcome higher education’s greatest challenges. The program convenes members regularly around the best ways to serve college students across the country.
Since 2009, CCA has worked extensively with key partners who have championed and guided the organization’s work. The Fellows formalize these relationships, adding visibility to these partners’ work and ensuring positive advancement of the college completion movement. The full roster of National CCA Fellows is available at completecollege.org/cca-fellows.
“We look forward to working with and learning from this group of experts and change-makers who are known for closing institutional performance gaps for minoritized students and solving some of the most important higher education issues in our country,” said Complete College America CEO Yolanda Watson Spiva. “Lorenzo Esters is a devoted, trusted, and equity-minded educator and leader who has a bold and declarative vision of inclusion that is well respected in higher education.”
About Ivy Tech Community College
Ivy Tech Community College is Indiana’s largest public postsecondary institution and the nation’s largest singly accredited statewide community college system, accredited by the Higher Learning Commission. Ivy Tech has campuses throughout Indiana and also serves thousands of students annually online. It serves as the state’s engine of workforce development, offering associate degree and short-term certificate programs, and trainings that align to the needs of the community. The College also offers courses and associate degree programs that seamlessly transfer to other colleges and universities in Indiana, as well as out of state, for a more affordable route to a Bachelor’s degree.
About Complete College America
Complete College America is a bold national advocate for dramatically increasing college completion rates and closing institutional performance gaps. CCA works with states, systems, institutions, and partners to scale highly effective structural reforms and promote policies that ultimately improve student success. For more information, visit CompleteCollege.org.
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