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Catalina Cifuentes, President

Executive Director of College and Career Readiness, Riverside County Office of Education

Catalina Cifuentes is a passionate educator and fierce advocate who has demonstrated the power behind effective school counseling, college affordability, and higher education advocacy on behalf of all students. She is currently the Executive Director of College and Career Readiness for the Riverside County Office of Education and is a California governor-appointed Commissioner and Chair for the California Student Aid Commission.

Cifuentes also serves on various local, regional, state, and national committees to have a voice in the decisions that affect our student’s access to a quality education and a promising future. She was also the recipient of the Visionary Award from the California College Guidance Initiative, the 2018 Western Association for College Admissions Counseling Joe Allen Human Relations Award, the 2018 National Association of College Admission Counseling Inclusion, Access, and Success Award and the 2019 Riverside County Office of Education Certificated Administrator of the Year.

As a first generation college graduate, Cifuentes strives to show the impact that can be made when educators have high expectations for all students and when students pursue their post-secondary dreams regardless of the odds against them.