Dr. Karin Edwards is currently President of the Clark College, where she is responsible for providing vision and strategic direction for the college. As the chief executive officer, she has oversight for all programmatic, instructional, financial and student support services. Dr. Edwards is very active in community outreach and engagement, and workforce development. She plays a critical role in creating promising pathways for students and ensuring equitable student success. Before arriving in Portland in 2014, Dr. Edwards worked in the Connecticut and New York State Community College systems.

She holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a master's degree in Education Administration both from the State University of New York at Albany. She also earned a doctorate in Education Leadership from Johnson and Wales University in Providence, Rhode Island. Dr. Edwards has over 35 years of experience in higher education administration and has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to the mission of community colleges, which has three primary areas of focus. Community colleges provide access to quality education and training, promote economic and community development, and respond to local and regional workforce needs. Equity is also inherent in the mission of community colleges. Dr. Edwards has championed diversity, equity, and inclusion throughout her career.

Dr. Edwards is a native New Yorker, born and raised in the South Bronx. For leisure, she enjoys reading, attending cultural events, exploring the Pacific Northwest, and dining out at the fantastic restaurants. She also enjoys giving back to her community by serving on various boards.

As a long-time educator, she has witnessed the transformational power that community colleges have in the lives of students and in the communities they serve.

Sabra Sand serves as Clark College's Vice President of Operations. She first joined Clark College in 1998 as a fiscal technician in the cashier's office. Since then, Sabra has served as Accounting Supervisor and Director of Business Services. 

Sabra began her educational journey here at Clark, studying business and accounting. She then completed her Bachelor's degree in Business and Accounting at Washington State University, where she also continued her graduate education in Accounting and Taxation. 

Over the years, Sabra has served on many college and statewide committees including the ctcLink Vendor selection and Workgroup, ctcLink Implementation team, College Tech Fee Committee, ASCC Student and Activities Fee Committee, and the Economic Vitality Council. She is active at the state level serving on the Budget, Accounting, and Reporting Council for all Washington state community and technical colleges. 

Outside of the college, she is very active in the soccer community, coordinating several teams and assisting players and coaches on a daily basis. 

Dr. Michele Cruse joined Clark College in October 2020 as Interim Vice President of Student Affairs. She was hired into the permanent position in November 2021. Prior to coming to Clark, she served as Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs and Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Experiential Education at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford in Pennsylvania. A native Pittsburgher, Dr. Cruse earned her associate degree from the Community College of Allegheny County, her bachelor’s degree in public administration from the University of Pittsburgh, her master’s degree in public administration and nonprofit management from Portland State University, and her doctorate in community college leadership from the University of Oregon. 

Dr. Cruse’s work experience includes both faculty and staff positions at Portland Community College, including dean of student development. She has owned her own business and served as co-founder of an organization focused on workshops and education for community members, women, disenfranchised youth, and those in alternative education. 

At Clark College, Dr. Cruse leads Student Affairs, a unit that includes a wide range of services and programs including enrollment services, athletics, career services, international programs, financial aid, disability support, the Veterans Resource Center, and the Counseling and Health Center, among others. 

Dr. Brad Avakian earned his bachelor’s degree from Oregon State University and his doctorate of law from Lewis & Clark University. For many years he worked as a lawyer specializing in civil rights cases. Later, he served in the Oregon House of Representatives and the Oregon Senate representing parts of northeast Washington County.

Dr. Avakian also served three terms as Oregon’s Commissioner of Labor and Industries, during which time he was a strong advocate for career and technical education programs, as well as for equity for women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ individuals.

Since leaving public service, Dr. Avakian has taught Politics and Public Policy for Managers in Willamette University’s MBA program and worked in private practice as a mediator and arbitrator. 

Vanessa Neal (she/her) rejoined Clark College in September 2022 as Interim Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication from the University of New Mexico and her master’s degree in leadership and organizations with an emphasis in human capacity from the University of Denver. With over a decade of experience in Higher Education, she has served in private and public institutions in student and employee-facing roles.

She initially joined Clark College in 2016 as a Classified staff member in Human Resources. Eventually, she served as the College’s Director of Talent Acquisition and Development, where her key focus was diversity, equity, and inclusion in hiring, development, and retention. She also served on the Title IX team as a FETI-trained Title IX investigator and supported various HR-related functions. 
 
In past roles, Vanessa has served as a Co-President for the Colorado Local Education Adult Resource Network (Colorado LEARN), a Manager of Enrollment, a Senior HR Business Partner, a Director of People Practices, and as an Interim Chief People & Culture Officer alongside her own consulting work. During her time at Clark College, Vanessa partnered closely with the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI) and the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC) to deliver various equity-centered trainings, events, and discussions and to host the inaugural Multicultural Graduation Reception. Through cross-departmental collaboration, she set the vision and direction for the accessible college-wide Professional Development Dashboard (PDD), implemented college-wide supervisory training, and supported the framework for the leadership development effort, L.E.A.D. During the early stage of COVID, Vanessa was instrumental in leading, developing, and transforming college-wide policies that allowed the College to pivot quickly during a critical time. 

Sudha Frederick joined Clark College in April 2023 as the Vice President of Information Technology. Sudha brings 15 years of experience in the field of information technology and 7 plus years in serving in leadership positions in several non-profit organizations. He has a master’s degree in business administration from George Fox University, a master’s degree in ministry management from Multnomah University and a master’s in Sociology from Madurai Kamaraj University. When away from work, he loves spending time with his family, church, playing the electric guitar and riding his motorcycle.

As the VP of Clark College, Sudha Frederick is responsible for the organization's technology vision and execution providing oversight of campuswide information technology activities, sponsoring IT committees, working with IT service units across campus, assessing current IT infrastructure and making appropriate recommendations and strategies to deliver timely and qualitative IT services across the University.

Sudha Frederick is passionate about building IT Teams to provide top notch IT services. One of his main focuses is to equip and empower his team to succeed by paying close attention to their natural potential and skillsets to set them up for success. He believes in transformational servant leadership. He describes the purpose for the existence of IT department to be as follows. ITS exists to ….

Connect: Connect People to Systems & Systems to People (There’s a difference)
Create: Provide tools for people to create intelligent information.
Collaborate: Enable systems and people to share information to contribute towards informational decision making.

He is also very passionate about Customer service and coined the AHAAA customer service principle.

A: Acknowledge the customer. Do not belittle the issue, which is in front of them, be it a basic or complex one. Issue is an issue, and we are here to resolve it.
H: Honor the person, irrespective of their race, gender, status and background.
A: Apologize. Be quick to apologize. Don’t be around the bush. Even if the fault is not yours, you may say something like, I am sorry, you are facing this issue etc.
A: Assure. Your customer is looking for assurance that their issue will be resolved. If you are not able to resolve the issue, assure them you will find the right resource to resolve the issue.
A: Acclimatize. Get acclimatized to the fact that our customers are going to come with all kinds of attitudes. Don’t be shaken. 

Dr. Jim Wilkins-Luton serves as Clark College’s Interim Vice President of Instruction. Jim first joined the Penguin Nation in 2000, teaching immigrant and refugee students in the English as a Second Language program. Since then, he has served as tenured faculty in the Developmental Education and English Departments; Dean of Transitional Studies, English, Communications, and Humanities; and Associate Vice President of Instruction.

Jim began his educational journey at Whitworth University, earning a bachelor’s degree in literature and composition. He then earned a master's degree in English at Gonzaga University and a doctorate in Administrative Leadership at George Fox University. Jim’s core motivation is to serve students who traditionally have not been viewed as "college ready," especially students from first generation and systemically marginalized populations.

Over the years, Jim has served on many college and statewide councils and commissions, including Council for Basic Skills, Articulation Transfer Council, Intercollegiate Relations Commission, and Instructional Commission. Clark College highlights include leading college-wide outcomes-assessment and accreditation initiatives. Jim also received the Clark College Exceptional Faculty Award.

Jim lived and taught in Kanazawa and Sendai, Japan, for seven years before settling down in Clark County. An ideal day for Jim includes reading, gardening, grilling, and spending time with his family. In his free moments, Jim can be found cycling on the hills and trails around Vancouver, teaching karate classes, and binge-watching K-dramas with his wife (and high school summer camp sweetheart), Debi.