Named a California Education Policy Fellow for 2019-2020, Naomi is widely recognized for her expertise on community college reform in California. She helps to mold CLP’s research agenda and support strategic college leaders with legislative, regulatory, and policy advising.
Naomi has led CLP projects funded by the California Career Pathways Trust and the Strong Workforce Program and projects to build capacity for Guided Pathways implementation. She offers legislative briefings. And she co-authored the Dual Enrollment Toolkit and “Creating a Dual Enrollment Partnership,” which are used by practitioners across California.
Based in Southern California, she is an adjunct professor of education at Compton College and previously served as Career Pathways Director at El Camino College. She began her career as a middle and high school teacher and principal in Tucson, Arizona. Her passion for career pathways is rooted in her relationship with her father, a working blacksmith in rural Louisiana who taught her how to forge steel; he also taught her how to frame out a room, hang drywall, do basic electrical work and plumbing, and rebuild the engine of her 1972 Volkswagen Thing.
Naomi holds a doctorate in educational leadership, administration, and policy from Pepperdine University and a master’s degree in teaching and teacher education and a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of Arizona.