California Honors a CGU Changemaker

Dr. Cynthia Olivo, whose doctoral training at Claremont Graduate University deepened her commitment to social impact, is being honored for leading one of California’s top transfer institutions. 

When Dr. Cynthia Olivo enrolled in Claremont Graduate University’s doctoral program in education, she came with a clear purpose: to transform the conditions facing underserved communities in Southern California. More than a decade later, that purpose has earned her statewide recognition. 

Olivo, president of Fullerton College in Orange County, was named California’s 67th Assembly District’s 2026 Woman of the Year by Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva. This acknowledgement reflects both her personal journey and the institutional impact she has built through years of community-centered leadership. Under her tenure, Fullerton College has achieved one of the highest transfer rates in California, helping thousands of students move from community college to four-year universities. 

“Dr. Olivo lives out Claremont Graduate University’s mission of promoting educational excellence, transformational opportunities, and equity,” said DeLacy Ganley, Dean of the School of Educational Studies. “She is doing it from a platform that makes good on the promise that quality education is accessible to all.” 

A Path Shaped by Community 

Olivo’s path to the presidency of one of California’s prominent community colleges is rooted in the kind of story her institution is designed to serve. A first-generation college attendee for her generation, the daughter of a single mother and the granddaughter of migrant farmworkers, she understands from personal experience what is at stake when educational access is denied or delayed. 

It was that lived understanding combined with a professional friendship that brought her to CGU. While working at Cal State University, San Bernardino, Olivo was encouraged to pursue her doctorate by a trusted colleague, Dr. Edward Bush, now president of Cosumnes River College, a California community college in the Sacramento area. 

“You would love this program,” Bush told her, as Olivo recalled. “You belong in this program. We have to pursue these degrees so we can continue transforming these conditions for our communities.” 

Bush and Olivo were both activists in their respective communities — he in the African American community, she in the Latino community — and both enrolled in CGU’s PhD in Education with an emphasis in urban issues. The program gave Olivo a scholarly framework for the advocacy work she had long been doing in practice. 

Doctoral Training as a Tool for Justice 

The School of Educational Studies provided more than credentials. For Olivo, the doctoral experience was a convergence of identity, scholarship, and purpose. Her former advisor, Dr. Bruce Matsui, said the alignment was evident from the start. 

“Dr. Cynthia Olivo has been an outstanding leader who has created and continues to create opportunities for distressed populations of students,” Matsui said. “During her tenure at San Bernardino, Pasadena, and Fullerton Colleges, she served as a mentor and model for students who, like herself, are first-time college attendees for their generation.” 

That mentorship has translated into measurable outcomes. Fullerton College’s transfer rates stand among the highest in the California community college system, a metric that carries deep significance in a state where the community college pathway remains one of the most accessible routes to a four-year degree, particularly for low-income and first-generation students. 

Dean Ganley noted that Olivo’s work reflects the kind of civic and democratic function that community colleges serve at their best. “Given Dr. Olivo’s commitments and talents, it does not surprise me that Fullerton College has one of the highest transfer rates in California, helping students move from the community college to four-year institutions,” Ganley said. 

Staying True to the North Star 

In a conversation with CGU, Olivo reflected on the principles that have guided her career — and the advice she would offer to current doctoral students and emerging leaders in education. 

“Continue to remain true to your own North Star,” she said. “If you are a person who is drawn to education because you are inclined towards social justice, never give up on that. Hold that true to your core and then align your scholarly interests with that so that you’re continuing to amplify and work towards social justice through our work in education. Once you do that, everything will fall into place.” 

That counsel carries particular weight in the current landscape of American higher education, where debates over equity, access, and the role of public institutions have grown increasingly contentious. Olivo acknowledged that the path is not without resistance but argued that the needs of communities and the demands of justice remain fundamentally aligned. 

“I know right now it may feel like you are going to meet a lot of resistance doing that,” she said. “But if you remain true to addressing the needs of our existing communities here in Southern California especially in LA, Orange County, and the Inland Empire, the needs of the people align with social justice matters.” 

From the Classroom to the College Presidency 

Olivo’s career trajectory traces the full arc of the California public education ecosystem. From her early faculty and administrative work at Cal State University, San Bernardino, to leadership positions at San Bernardino, Pasadena, and Fullerton colleges, she has spent her career building and sustaining pathways for students who enter higher education without the safety nets that others take for granted. 

Her CGU doctorate in education with its emphasis on urban issues gave her both the intellectual grounding and institutional credibility to lead at the highest level. The PhD in Education program at CGU draws students from across the public and nonprofit education sectors, with a curriculum designed to connect rigorous scholarship with real-world leadership challenges in communities facing persistent inequality. 

The Woman of the Year recognition places Olivo among a distinguished class of honorees who have made lasting contributions to their communities and professions. For CGU, her recognition represents something more specific: evidence that the university’s investment in equity-oriented doctoral education produces leaders who carry that mission outward into institutions, communities, and systems that shape millions of lives. 

Looking Forward 

For Olivo, the award is not an endpoint but a waypoint on a longer journey. As California continues to grapple with questions of educational equity, transfer access, and the future of public higher education, leaders like Olivo, rooted in community, trained in rigorous scholarship, and committed to systemic change, represent exactly the kind of force that institutions like CGU exist to develop.