Foundation for Student Success

Leadership

The Foundation for Student Success Leadership

 
 
 
Sally Johnstone, FSS Executive Director

Sally M. Johnstone, FSS Executive Director
About Sally

 
 
 

Dianne Dubois, FSS Chair
Dianne Dubois, FSS Board Chair
About Dianne
 
 
 

Francisco Hernandez, FSS Board
Francisco J. Hernandez, FSS Board Member
About Francisco

 
 
 

Dennis Jones, FSS Board
Dennis P. Jones, FSS Board Member
About Dennis

 
 
 

Ken Pepion,, FSS Board
Ken Pepion, FSS Board Member
About Ken

 
 
 

Amanda Quintero, FSS Board
Amanda Quintero, FSS Board Member
About Amanda

 
 
 
Alvin J Schexnider, FSS Board
Alvin J. Schexnider, FSS Board Member
About Alvin

 
 
 
J Studley, FSS Board
Jamienne S. Studley, FSS Board Member
About Jamienne

 
 
 

Michael Thomas, FSS Board
Michael K. Thomas, FSS Board Member
About Michael

 
 
 

Linda Thor, FSS Board
Linda M. Thor, FSS Board Member
About Linda

 
 
 

Jan Yoshiwara, FSS Board
Jan Yoshiwara, FSS Board Member
About Jan


Sally M. Johnstone, FSS Executive Director

Sally M. Johnstone serves as the Executive Director of the Foundation for Student Success. She served as NCHEMS' President from 2016 - 2023 after a long career in higher education. She recently served as a vice president at the Western Governors University. She has also served as a provost at a public comprehensive university, in an executive role the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE), and as a faculty member.

 

Dr. Johnstone is a commissioner on the U.S. UNESCO Commission, and on the editorial boards for Change magazine (USA) and the Journal of Open Learning (UK). She has given scores of talks and authored dozens of articles, books, and reports on issues of integrating information and communication technology into academics.

 

Dianne Dubois, FSS Chair

Dianne Dubois is Chief Operations Officer/Chief Financial Officer at North Bay Childrens Center. She was formerly a Consulting CFO, working through her own firm, Maple Street Associates, LLC. She has also led an interim CFO practice for Hardesty, LLC, and has worked through Tatum. Her clients have included companies in the consumer products, internet/technology, media services, life sciences, cleantech, business services, manufacturing and non profit sectors.

 

From 2008-2010, she was a Principal at Atlas Business Advisors, a boutique M&A firm, advising sellers of businesses in the lower end of the middle market. Dianne has held a number of corporate financial and operational roles, in both public and privately held companies, and had her own consulting CFO practice for 10 years.

 

She has held CFO positions at Margaret O'Leary, Inc., LookSmart, the Olivia Companies, Say Media, and Mota Group, and senior financial roles in companies such as Disney, Wellpoint Health Networks, PIMCO, and E*Trade, in addition to interim CFO roles at a variety of companies in the Bay Area. She has put together (and pulled apart) several joint ventures, ran a technology start up in Seattle, and has experience running almost every facet of a business, including sales, customer service, operations, technology, all administrative areas, and of course, finance and accounting. Dianne began her career with Arthur Andersen and is a CPA.

 

Dianne was the 2008-2009 President of the San Francisco chapter of the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG), a business group focusing on middle market companies, and has been on the Board and Executive Committee of the group since 2005. Additionally, she serves as Board Chairperson for the Foundation for Student Success, a non-profit providing grants to help further the field of student success analytics in higher education, and was also the Board Chairperson for its predecessor entity, PAR Framework. She is on the Advisory Board for the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. She also served as a regional judge for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award from 2009-2012.

 

Dianne is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin with a degree in accounting. She currently lives in Sonoma, CA.

 

Francisco J. Hernandez, FSS Board

Dr. Hernandez has extensive experience in education having served as a teacher’s aide, teacher, and Principal of an alternative school. Over the last 40 years he has also held administrative posts in higher education including as Vice Chancellor for students overseeing all aspects of student life including efforts aimed at expanding access and equity for low-income and minority students.

 

He has served on numerous boards, including WICHE as a commissioner from California and Hawaii, the Executive Committee of WCET, the Hawai‘i Charter School Review Panel, and is a founding member and former chair of the Board of Directors for the North American Council for Online Learning. (iNACOL). He also serves as a board member of the Monterey Institute for Technology and Education and an advisor to the National Repository for Online Courses (NROC) project.

 

Most recently, Dr. Hernandez was Vice Chancellor for Students at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. In this position he oversaw admissions, financial aid, housing services, counseling services, student health services, student government, and a set of specialized services for target groups including low-income and minority students. He also created the Online Learning Academy that provides online academic support services to students in Hawaii.

 

Prior to joining the University of Hawaii, he served as Vice Chancellor for students at the University of California, Santa Cruz where he oversaw all aspects of student life. Prior to UC Santa Cruz, Dr. Hernandez held several administrative positions at UC Berkeley including Dean of Student Life and Assistant Vice Chancellor. While at UC Santa Cruz he had the role of founder and project director for the University of California College Prep initiative. This project created $10 million of online curriculum content and distributed that content to schools throughout the US.

 

Dr. Hernandez received his MA and Ph.D. (1980) from Stanford University’s School of Education where he specialized in the History of Education. He received his B.A. in American History from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970 and an Associate in Arts Degree from Sierra Junior College in Rocklin, California in 1968. He also holds teaching credentials in elementary and secondary education.

Dennis P. Jones, FSS Board

Dennis P. Jones is the President Emeritus of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS).

Mr. Jones has more than 40 years of experience in research, development, technical assistance, and administration in the field of higher education management and policy-making. A member of the NCHEMS staff since 1969, he assumed increasing levels of responsibility within that organization, becoming president in 1986.

Under his leadership, and in collaboration with an extraordinarily talented staff, NCHEMS has achieved a position of preeminence as a leader in the development and promulgation of information-based approaches to policy-making in higher education.

Mr. Jones is widely recognized for his work in such areas as:

  • Developing “public agendas” to guide state higher education policy-making.
  • Financing, budgeting, and resource allocation methodologies for use at both state and institutional levels.
  • Linking higher education with states’ workforce and economic development needs.
  • Developing and using information to inform policy-making.

Mr. Jones has written many monographs and articles on these topics, has presented his work at many regional, national, and international conferences, and has consulted with hundreds of institutions and state higher education agencies on management issues of all kinds.

Mr. Jones is a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and served as an administrator (in business and institutional planning) there for eight years prior to his joining the NCHEMS staff. He has served as an advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Education, the Lumina Foundation for Education, the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education and to numerous other associations, policy organizations, and state agencies.

Ken Pepion, FSS Board

A member of the Blackfeet Tribe, Ken Pepion has most recently served as Senior Project Director for Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE). Prior to joining WICHE, Ken was Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado and prior to that, he was Director of Faculty Programs in the Office of University Relations and Fellowship Programs at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. From June 2000 to April 2004, Ken served as Executive Director of the Harvard University Native American Program in the John F. Kennedy School of Government.

Ken has also held leadership positions at the University of Arizona, Montana State University, and the University of Montana. Ken has directed projects funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, and Department of Energy, and has served as consultant to foundations and federal agencies in the areas of American Indian education, higher education policy, and math, science, and engineering education. His past service includes membership on the Committee for Equal Opportunity in Science and Engineering for the National Science Foundation, the Board of Directors of the All Nations Alliance for Minority Participation, the Tribal College Advisory Committee for the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and Research Associate with the National Center for American Indian and Alaska Native Mental Health Research. Ken has also served on the Minority Graduate Education Committee for the Council of Graduate Schools, the Minority Access to Research Careers Advisory Committee for the National Institutes of Health, the Board of Directors for the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, and Advisory Board for Math and Science for All. In 2000, Dr. Pepion received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics, Science, and Engineering Mentoring.

Ken received undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of Montana and Montana State University, and completed the Ph.D. in Higher Education Policy and Administration at the University of Arizona in 1993.

 

Dr. Amanda Quintero, FSS Board

Dr. Amanda Quintero currently serves as Senior Advisor to the President for Inclusive Excellence at California State University - Northridge and Equity Innovation Officer for the Global HSI Equity Innovation Hub at California State University, Northridge. In this role, she collaborates with faculty, staff, and students across the University and with other national and international education innovation leaders and equity partners to accelerate an institutional strategy for fostering a sense of belonging, improving retention, and closing equity gaps for all students and employees.

 

Dr. Quintero's experience traverses the public service sector and higher education, holding multiple leadership positions developing, administering, and evaluating programs that advance access and educational equity at the campus, CSU system, state, and national level. She brings to this role over 20 years of experience leading institutional change initiatives that build capacity to advance educational equity and student success, including developing culturally relevant and responsive practices, fostering a culture of inclusive excellence, and leading cross-divisional teams that improve student outcomes.

 

Prior to CSUN, Dr. Quintero served as Associate Vice Provost for Student Success and Equity Initiatives at CSU Channel Islands (CSUCI), where she was a powerful advocate of educational opportunities for historically underrepresented students in the region. She helped facilitate historic gains in student success, and throughout her career, Dr. Quintero has forged public and private partnerships to raise millions ($100M+) in funding to support these efforts. Her work has focused on accelerating first-generation and Chicanx/Latinx student success, which significantly contributed to CSUCI being recognized as the only CSU and Hispanic Serving Institution in California to achieve the inaugural Seal of Excelencia in 2019. During her tenure at CSUCI, she also served as faculty lecturer in the Chicana/o Studies Program, Co-Chair of the Chicana/o Latina/o Faculty and Staff Association, past Council President for the Alliance of HSI Educators (AHSIE), and currently serves on the Board of the Foundation for Student Success.

 

Dr. Quintero holds the distinction of being a 2021 CSU Wang Award nominee, as well as being presented with a number of prestigious additional awards, including the CSUCI Presidential Medallion. She was profiled by the Apple Education Initiative, CSU as a student success innovator and recognized by the National Institute for the Study of Transfer Students as a Transfer Champion Catalyst in 2020.

 

A first-generation college graduate, Dr. Quintero holds a B.A. in Global Studies from CSU Monterey Bay, M.A. in Public Policy & Administration from CSU Long Beach, and a Ph.D. in Education with an emphasis in Policy, Evaluation, and Reform from Claremont Graduate University.

Alvin J. Schexnider, FSS Board

Alvin J. Schexnider, Ph.D., is president and principal consultant of Schexnider & Associates, LLC, a management and executive development consulting firm where he specializes in executive coaching and governance. Before retiring 2007 he was executive vice president and interim president Norfolk State University. A former chancellor of Winston-Salem State University, he has held faculty and administrative positions at public and private institutions including Syracuse University, Virginia Commonwealth University and Wake Forest University.

A native of Lake Charles, Louisiana, Dr. Schexnider earned a B.A. degree in political science at Grambling State University. He received the M.A. and Ph.D. in political science from Northwestern University where he held Norman Wait Harris, Ford Foundation and Woodrow Wilson fellowships.

Dr. Schexnider is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration. He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards including the J. Sergeant Reynolds Award for Outstanding Service in Public Administration, The Grambling State University Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Alpha Phi Alpha Distinguished Educator of the Year Award, and the Urban League Silver Star Award for Education. He is a member of the Grambling State University Hall of Fame.

Dr. Schexnider is the author of Saving Black Colleges (Palgrave Macmillan 2013) and the co-author of Blacks and the Military (Brookings Institution 1982) and has written extensively on public management and higher education. He formerly served on the editorial boards of Public Administration Review and the Journal of Power and Ethics. He was featured in two documentaries regarding construction of the Alaska Canada Highway, one produced for American Legacy in 2003 and another produced for the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) American Experience Series in 2005.

Dr. Schexnider has extensive experience in board governance and is a consultant to the Association of Governing Boards (AGB) and he has contributed to its publication Trusteeship. He serves on the boards of the Town Point Club, St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children and on the board of trustees of Virginia Wesleyan College. From 1992 to 1998, he was a trustee of Marketwatch Funds and from 1998 to 2002, he was a trustee of Wachovia Funds and Municipal Funds.

Dr. Schexnider enjoys a long record of public service to the Commonwealth of Virginia. His numerous gubernatorial appointments include: the Commission of Virginia’s Future, the Board of Visitors of Virginia State University, the Commission on Local Government, the Virginia Board of Education and the Commission on the Revitalization of Virginia’s Cities. He is a former member of the Executive Committee of Richmond Renaissance, Inc. and former Chairman of the Southern Regional Council of the College Board. He is married and the father of a son and a daughter.

Jamienne S. Studley, FSS Board

Jamienne S. Studley is President and CEO of WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC).

She is the former Deputy Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Education and the former President of Skidmore College.

Throughout her career in higher education, public service, civil rights advocacy, and non-profit leadership Jamienne Studley has actively advanced equity, opportunity, public engagement, and transparency.

She is respected for her effective listening and collaboration across sectors, bridging the worlds of higher education, government and advocacy, and also for her consistent commitment to the values of access, affordability, and meaningful outcomes for students, communities, democracy and civic life, culture, and liberal education.

Some highlights of her work in the education arena include:

  • Guiding the extensive national listening and outreach process for development of the U.S. Department of Education College Scorecard, and improved outcomes measures generally, and helping expand the national conversation on the effectiveness of postsecondary accreditation
  • Advocating for need-based student aid, non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in higher education, and collaboration across K-16 systems
  • Negotiating a consensus approach to federal financial responsibility standards for participation in Title IV student aid programs for all colleges and universities
  • Coordinating the design of Yale Law School’s groundbreaking loan forgiveness program and helping expand loan forgiveness programs across the country

Ms. Studley was deputy and acting under secretary of the U.S. Department of Education from 2013-2016, and also was delegated the duties of assistant secretary for postsecondary education in 2015. She also served as deputy and acting general counsel of the department in 1993-99. Her other roles in higher education include President, Skidmore College; Associate Dean and Lecturer in Law, Yale Law School; executive director, National Association for Law Placement; adjunct faculty, UC Berkeley and Stanford Law Schools; board member, Association of American Colleges and Universities, and visiting committee, Harvard Law School.

She has also held leadership positions in public interest and non-profit organizations, including President, CEO, and now President Emerita of Public Advocates Inc. and executive director, California Abortion Rights League-North. Her volunteer activities include chair of the San Francisco Ethics Commission and Connecticut Women’s Education and Legal Fund; co-chair, California Civil Rights Coalition, and board of American Craft Council and San Francisco Education Fund (current).

Ms. Studley, is a graduate of Barnard College magna cum laude and Harvard Law School.

Michael K. Thomas, FSS Board

Michael K. Thomas is the President and CEO of the New England Board of Higher Education (NEBHE) in Boston, Massachusetts, a regional organization created by the U.S. Congress to work with the 260 colleges and universities in the six New England states. NEBHE works to expand education opportunity and services and to address issues related to New England’s human capital and economic competitiveness.

Dr. Thomas directs NEBHE’s policy, research, publishing and programmatic activities, focused on promoting innovative K-12, postsecondary and life-long learning policies and on expanding collaboration among leaders of business, government and education. He works extensively in state political and higher education environments with governors, state legislators, K-12 and higher education executives and with business leaders to address issues of college readiness, access and success.

He joined NEBHE in 2002 as director of policy and research and subsequently served as senior director and senior vice president. He previously worked in corporate training and human resources and in multiple roles in public and independent universities, including executive assistant to the president of Lesley University in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Brigham Young University and master’s degrees in higher education from Teachers College, Columbia University and Harvard University. He earned a doctorate in education and social policy from Harvard University and an M.B.A. from Boston University.

He has been a faculty member, adjunct professor and lecturer at several universities. He is a trustee of New England College and served as trustee and vice chair of the board of Worcester State University.

Linda M. Thor, FSS Board

Dr. Linda M. Thor is President of Maricopa Community College District Governing Board. She chancellor emeritus of the Foothill-De Anza Community College District in the Silicon Valley and president emeritus of Rio Salado College in greater Phoenix. A nationally recognized innovator, Dr. Thor has worked in community colleges for 41 years, 29 years as a CEO. Her Foothill-De Anza legacy includes obtaining a public benefit conveyance of 9.2 acres to build a new Education Center, becoming a community college baccalaureate pilot institution, and providing statewide leadership for the $57 million Online Education Initiative.

Before joining Foothill-De Anza in 2010, Dr. Thor served for nearly 20 years as president of Rio Salado College, one of the Maricopa Community Colleges. Rio Salado is known for effectively serving working adults through online learning, offering customized degree and certificate programs for corporations and government, and providing accelerated learning programs, such as dual enrollment for high school students. During her tenure enrollment increased 252 percent.

Prior to becoming Rio Salado’s president in 1990, Dr. Thor was president of West Los Angeles College in Culver City, California. During her tenure she obtained state funding for major capital construction projects, saw the enrollment increase 48 percent, and introduced a number of innovative programs. Dr. Thor’s appointment as WLAC president in 1986 followed a successful tenure as senior director of occupational and technical education for the Los Angeles Community College District, where she administered over $20 million in technical training programs under federal and state grants.

Active at the national level, Dr. Thor served on the boards of the League for Innovation in the Community College, American Council on Education Commission on Education Attainment and Innovation, EDUCAUSE, CAEL and the Community College Baccalaureate Association. By gubernatorial appointment, she served as one of three California representatives on the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education. In 2010 U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appointed her as one of 15 members of the Committee on Measures of Student Success.

Jan Yoshiwara, FSS Board

Jan Yoshiwara is retired executive director of the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, an agency which administers Washington's system of 34 public community and technical colleges. The State Board sets policy, allocates state operating and capital funds to the colleges, strategically plans the two-year college mission, and approves educational programs.

 

Jan assumed the role of executive director in July 2017 after serving as deputy executive director for the State Board's Education Division. The division consists of instruction, student services, eLearning, policy research, and performance accountability. Yoshiwara also worked with senior staff at colleges, universities, higher education and K-12 agencies, the Office of the Governor, federal and state law makers, and state business and labor partners to advance education goals and policies. She continues to uphold and advance these relationships as executive director.

 

Yoshiwara has had a long career at the State Board. She started with the agency in 1984 and worked as associate director of planning and information services and associate director for student services and minority affairs. Jan's retirement caps an honorable and impactful 44-year career serving Washington's community and technical college students and the 34 local colleges that serve them.

 

Yoshiwara earned a Bachelor of Science in zoology from the University of California, Davis and Master of Education in student personnel administration for higher education from Western Washington University.