Celebrating Ten Years of Leadership Fellows:

Maximizing CTN's Potential as an Agency of Change

Leadership Fellows Program

The CTN Leadership Fellows Program is a customized learning experience that immerses participants in the organization's culture, policies, and decision-making processes. The program aims to maximize CTN's potential as an agency of change by maximizing the potential of all the people implementing CTN’s Transformative Education Framework across the state and nation.

Program Goals:

To provide a developmental track for practitioners across campuses to help them understand the underpinnings associated with leadership values to impact the future of higher education directly.
To ensure that future leaders are ready to take on real-world challenges in higher education and serve the capacity-building needs of the program and the educational institutions we serve.
To develop leaders who share the values of respect, community, professional development, and responsible stewardship while seeking to encourage others to lead and achieve success – in other words. This mindful leader embraces collaboration and inclusiveness

How to apply to be a CTN Leadership Fellow

Please submit the application below and upload the requested materials
Contact Debra.Mcbeath@catchthenext.org with any questions
Deadline: TBA
Notifications, TBS
Leadership Fellows Training: TBA

Submit application

CTN believes effective leadership can improve organizational learning and help drive the agency in new directions. “Organizational learning is creating, retaining, and transferring knowledge within the organization. The primary purpose is to ensure organizations retain what they learn from experience over time. In the modern knowledge-based economy, organizational learning can create a competitive advantage for almost all organizations.” The Oxford Review, 2015

A good Leadership Fellow is an individual who can establish a values-oriented vision and mission that promotes the success of others and CTN.

CTN Leadership Fellows earn stipends for their participation in the following:

CTN Professional Development ASCENDER Seminars: summer, fall, and spring as presenters or co-presenters.
CTN Site Visits to campuses across the state where they serve as peer mentors to new faculty and administrators.
Provide Workshops for our Transformative Teaching Institutes or Learning Circles.
Other projects as assigned.

CTN Leadership Fellows can participate in the following:

Leadership Fellows Retreat held each year.
Monthly Webinars.
Research and Evaluation Team.
Journal of Ideas and Creativity as writers or editorial staff.
Marketing and Communications Team
Student Engagement team

Through its Leadership Fellows Program, CTN will, at the very least, ensure that faculty are better informed on the elements of an effectively led collegiate program. They will then be able to advocate for organizational change and understand leadership from a systems perspective.

Leadership Fellow Cohorts

Dallas College

2025 Cohort

Bernadette Vargas Rodriguez (EDUC)| brodriguez@dallascollege.edu
Antonio Soto (Pathway Specialist) | ASoto1@dallascollege.edu
Rosalind Vinson (Math) | rvinson@dallascollege.edu
Shay Johnson (Career and Transfer) | Sharlotte.Johnson@dallascollege.edu
Cynthia Miller (English) | cmiller@dallascollege.edu
Guadalupe Robles (Career and Transfer) | Lupe.Robles@dallascollege.edu
Veronica Villa (Math) | vvilla@dallascollege.edu

2024 Cohort

Praveena Dhayanithy (Math) pdhayanithy@dallascollege.edu
Yolanda Manzano (Math) | manzano@dcccd.edu
Chesley Cade Mason (English) | cmason@dallascollege.edu
Laura Flores (Senior Manager at LCET)| lauraf@dallascollege.edu

2023 Cohort

Patrick J. Vasquez (Associate Dean of Guided Pathway Success) | patrick.vasquez@dallascollege.edu
Teresita Ramirez (Math) | teresita.ramirez@dallascollege.edu
Melinda Andrews (Learning Frameworks) | mlandrews@dcccd.edu
Chuang Shao (Chair of Mathematics) | cshao@dallascollege.edu
John Rose (English) | jwrose@dallascollege.edu
Michael Arredondo (Director of Human Resources) | marredondo@dallascollege.edu

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San Antonio College

2025 Cohort

Crystal Amber Olivo (Advisor) | colivo12@alamo.edu
Marc Martinez (Criminal Justice) | mmartinez2571@alamo.edu
Myra Perez-Navarro (Criminal Justice) | mperez398@alamo.edu
Felipe Vargas (Sociology) | pvargas8@alamo.edu
Diana Franchini (Math) |dfranchini13@alamo.edu

2024 Cohort

Melisssa Pollock (Grant Program Director) | mpollock5@alamo.edu

2023 Cohort

Elissa Gutierrez (Advisor) | egutierrez118@alamo.edu

2021 Cohort

Joan Jaimes (Director of Teaching and Learning, Director Ascender Program) | jjaimes23@alamo.edu
Mona Aldana Ramirez (Director of Student Success) | maldana-ramirez@alamo.edu
Yon Hui Bell (English) | ybell@alamo.edu
Laurie Coleman (English) | lcoleman@alamo.edu

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Palo Alto College

2025 Cohort

Sophia Salgado (English) | ssalgado14@alamo.edu

2024 Cohort

Tivy Whitlock (EDUC) | twhitlock@alamo.edu

2022 Cohort

Antonio Garza (English) | agarza782@alamo.edu
Ron Perez (Learning Frameworks, Program Director) | rperez@alamo

2021 Cohort

Mary Elston (English) | melston@alamo.edu

2018 Cohort

Lisa Trevino (English) | ltrevino26@alamo.edu
Dolores Zapata | dzapata@alamo.edu
Alfredo Torres (CTN Consultant) | alfredo.torres@catchthenext.org
Juan Higa (Ascender alumni, CTN Staff) | juan.higa@catchthenext.org

2014-2017 Cohorts

Rafael Castillo (English) |rcastillo3@alamo.edu
Diane Lerma (Student Development) | dlerma38@hotmail.com
Yolanda Reyna (Counseling/Student Development) | yreyna@alamo.edu
Daniel Rodriguez (Counseling/Student Development) | Prodriguez@alamo.edu
Stacy Ybarra (Advising)
Debra McBeath (English) | debra.mcbeath@catchthenext.org

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Austin Community College

2024 Cohort

Diana Gorostieta Martinez (Outreach Coordinator) diana,gorostietamartinez@austincc.edu
David Rice (English) | david.rice@austincc.e

2022 Cohort

Vidal Almanza (Advisor) | vman@austincc.edu
Helen Dailey (Learning Frameworks) | hdailey@austincc.edu

2021 Cohort

Samantha Ackers (Learning Frameworks) | samantha.ackers@austincc.edu
Megan Diaz (Outreach Specialist) | megan.diaz@austincc.edu
Lillian Huerta (Learning Frameworks) | lhuerta@austincc.edu
Cynthia Cantu (Senior Advisor) | cynthia.cantu@austincc.edu
Anne Fletcher (English) | afletche@austincc.edu

2018 Cohort

Olga Eckert (Counseling, Student Development) | olga.eckert@austincc.edu
Ariel Flores (Advising, Student Engagement) | ariel.flores@austincc.edu
Pedro Merced (Mathematics) | pedro.merced@austincc.edu
Rosa Rodriguez-Alvarez (Counseling, Student Development) | rosa.rodriguez-alvarez@austincc.edu
Alejandra Polcik (Manager of Hispanic Outreach Projects) amarti11@austincc.edu

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South Texas College

2023 Cohort

Maria Garcia | mmgarcia@southtexascollege.edu

2022 Cohort

Jon Herrin (English)

2021 Cohort

Rosa Gutierrez (Math) rgutierr@southtexascollege.edu
Jonathan Bell (Math) | jwbell@southtexascollege.edu
Mario Morin (Math) | mjmorin@southtexascollege.edu
Darrial Reynolds (Government) | @southtexascollege.edu

2018 Cohort

Juan Ramirez (Student Development, INRW, English) | jrramirez@southtexascollege.edu
Florinda Rodriguez (INRW Chair) | frodrig@southtexascollege.edu

2014-2017 Cohorts

Anna Alaniz (Director of Professional Development, CTN, Student Development, English) | abalaniz@southtexascollege.edu
Ety Bischoff (Director, Dean of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, retired) | etybuh@southtexascollege.edu
Angelica P. Cerda (English) | apcerda@southtexascollege.edu
Esmeralda Macias (English) | ermacias1@southtexascollege.edu

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