By: Cintia Lopez-Montes and Hina Qazi
Cradle-to-Career’s (C2C) May Governing Board meeting had a full agenda including: updates to the Student Pathways Dashboard, C2C’s partnership with CalKIDS, the importance of incubation and collaboration, streamlining transcript exchange, and an update on the Advisory Board proposal process.
The board also voted on the addition of data points to the P20W dataset from the Employment Development Department (EDD), the feasibility report on operational tools, and C2C’s strategic plan.
Updates from Board Chair and Executive Director
Governing Board Chair Gavin Payne shared remarks and presented former Board member Debbie Cochrane with a certificate of service. Cochrane served as the Bureau Chief at the Bureau for Private Postsecondary Education and is now leading the newly formed California Education Interagency Council.
Chair Payne announced the C2C Forward website. C2C Forward was created in collaboration with the Foundation for California Community Colleges. There are a number of proposals for a data fellows program to augment C2C’s work.
Both Chair Payne and C2C Executive Director Mary Ann Bates shared details about the Student Pathways Dashboard update, which was initially released in April 2025. The dashboard was updated with an additional year of data, enhanced performance, fully mobile capabilities, and improved accessibility. The updates were made thanks in part to feedback C2C received from users.
Director Bates highlighted C2C’s collaboration with the California Community College Chancellor’s Office (CCCCO) and CalKIDS, which pinpointed 40,000 current college students with $20 million in unclaimed CalKIDS accounts. C2C will continue to link data across the CalKIDS program and CCCCO.
C2C received more workforce data in March, which will allow for a deeper understanding of earnings outcomes from different paths that Californians take, including job training and apprenticeships.
Presentation on Incubation and Partnerships
The Office of Data and Innovation (ODI) presented on the importance of collaboration and incubation. Jeffery Marino, Director of ODI and Andrew King, Deputy Director of Data Operations Strategy, spoke about C2C and ODI’s collaboration on a modern data stack solution for the data system, which would enable a more efficient and faster data ingestion process.
Mary Aguayo, president of the California College Guidance Initiative (CCGI) spoke about the role of CCGI and how it works to help students better understand their progress toward their college eligibility, and help them better align their coursework to ensure they are meeting A-G Requirements.
Aguayo noted the important work C2C is doing with the eTranscript and how it aligns with CCGI’s work in creating enhancements to support batch transcript requests.
Advancements and Updates to the Data System
C2C’s Director of Data Infrastructure Dan Lamoree outlined five major updates that the data system has seen, including system overview, new tooling, zero trust maturity progress, cost optimizations, and new data sharing processes. These updates emphasize the momentum and readiness of C2C’s team and their continuous contributions to the Office’s overall achievements.
“We’ve done the impossible, and that makes us mighty,” Lamoree said. C2C has continued to see accomplishments including the increase of data providers submitting data from eight to 16 in just three years and continuous improvements to the data dashboards.
Director of Data Programs, Ryan Estrellado discussed the decision to add additional data points with EDD to the P20W data set. Working with EDD expands research opportunities and allows C2C to gain insight on the stories of Californians across multiple jobs through an expanded base wage file. He noted that including employer-related data points is essential to creating a strong and accurate narrative.
The Board voted unanimously to approve the addition of these data points from EDD.
Vote on the Feasibility Report on Operational Tools
Judy Chan, Deputy Director of Data Programs at C2C, shared an update on the feasibility report on operational tools outlined in California’s statutory Education Code Section 10867(b)(5)(E). Since the August 2025 Governing Board meeting, C2C has incorporated incubation into its efforts to scale operational tools, and has continued leveraging partnerships to incubate new and redesigned tools.
The Board voted unanimously to endorse the report in relation to resolution, and submit it to the Legislature and Governor.
Vote on the Strategic Plan
The Board voted to approve the 5-year strategic plan, which defines high-level strategic priorities and sets out how C2C can be useful, user-friendly, and accessible. Over the course of the past few months, the Strategic Planning Committee worked to streamline the strategic plan and voted on April 29 to present the new 5-year Strategic Plan.
Planning began with an overview of the plan concepts in November of 2025. Three meetings followed that initial meeting in which edits were made to the Strategic Plan.
The Board voted unanimously to present the strategic plan as is.
Movement in the Advisory Boards Proposal Process
Board member and Community Engagement Advisory Board (CEAB) liaison Christopher J. Nellum, PhD presented with CEAB member Carla Lopez-Valdes, EdD, and Ryan Estrellado on CEAB proposals.
CEAB received two proposals, a C2C Train-The-Trainer Ambassador Model and Engagement Plans For Data Providers. The two proposals share the idea of humanizing data through storytelling and using plain language to improve accessibility.
Board member and Data and Tools Advisory Board (DTAB) liaison Ana Luz González-Vásquez, PhD presented with DTAB member Daniel Millán, PhD and Ryan Estrellado on DTAB proposals.
DTAB received four proposals, which span teacher workforce pathways, a clearer definition of College Promise, expanded student homelessness data, and better access to post-high-school outcomes data.
Eight public comments were made in support of two proposals; Adding Pathways and Placement Data to Strengthen Teacher Workforce Insights and Expanding Student Homeless Status Data Element.
During the CEAB proposal deliberation, member Sullivan noted that both proposals catch the spirit of the idea of having a field of C2C ambassadors, but acknowledged that the ideas can be a great amount of work for C2C’s limited staff.
During the DTAB proposal deliberation, members noted that feasibility of implementing the ideas right now may be a challenge but should be saved in a repository for future priorities.
All members expressed interest in hearing more about each proposal as the process continues to move forward.