15 Minutes with Long Beach City College Superintendent Eloy Oakley

January 31, 2012 - Eloy Ortiz Oakley has served as superintendent-president of the Long Beach Community College District (LBCCD) since 2007, continuing the success of both campuses of Long Beach City College and its strong partnership with workforce and economic development within the City of Long Beach.

Oakley knows firsthand the benefits of community college. After spending four years in the U.S. Army, Oakley studied at Golden West College before transferring to University of California, Irvine, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental analysis/design and a master’s degree in business administration.

Oakley’s professional background includes: serving as an adjunct faculty member with Golden West College’s Environmental Technology Certificate program; managing risk services at Coast Community College District; working as assistant vice president of Keenan & Associates’ Property & Casualty Division and serving as vice president of college services at Oxnard College.

He first arrived at LBCCD in 2002 to become the assistant superintendent/executive vice president of administrative services, through which he supervised the Measure E bond construction program, campus finances and operations at Long Beach City College’s Liberal Arts Campus and Pacific Coast Campus.

Oakley has been appointed to the California Community College Commission on the Future, as well as the National American Association of Community Colleges’ 21st Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges. He is an active member of the Association of California Community Colleges Administrators, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the National Council of La Raza.

In addition, he serves on several local boards and committees, including the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation, St. Mary’s Medical Center, YMCA of Greater Long Beach, Long Beach Area Chamber of Commerce, Long Beach Symphony Orchestra, Long Beach Rotary Club and the Campaign for College Opportunity.

On January 27, Oakley was in Miami giving the luncheon address at the 19th Annual Workforce Development Institute. He spoke about the Presidents for Entrepreneurship Forum – a group of community college presidents committed to increasing the focus of entrepreneurship at community colleges ­– and the important role of community colleges in small business development. "As part of the California’s higher education community, we feel it is imperative to support entrepreneurship through our academic programs and active engagement in the region,” Oakley told attendees. "New businesses are vital to job creation and economic growth.”

In this interview, Oakley stressed the need to keep "moving forward” – with support for public school funding, with development projects, with community outreach and with economic development for those living, working and learning in Long Beach.