Ajita Talwalker Menon is the President and CEO for Calbright College. Her job is to lead the college to help underserved Californians gain greater economic mobility and to provide skilled talent for hiring employers.

Ms. Menon has dedicated her career to supporting government agencies, higher education institutions and systems, and non-profit organizations to drive better and more equitable outcomes in higher education and workforce training. Prior to relocating to California, she served in the Obama Administration as Special Assistant to the President for Higher Education Policy at the White House Domestic Policy Council where she led efforts to expand college opportunity, affordability, innovation, and completion, ensuring more Americans could access the knowledge and skills needed to succeed in the nation’s growing economy.

She has also held senior roles in the federal government at the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. House of Representatives, in addition to her more recent work as Senior Advisor to the Chancellor of the California Community Colleges. She has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and a master’s degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government. Ms. Menon lives in San Francisco with her husband and daughter.