Dr. Rob Johnstone
Founder and President, National Center for Inquiry and Improvement
Dr. Johnstone works to help 2-year and 4-year colleges create structures and processes that increase student completion, learning and labor market outcomes. His unique & engaging approach to inquiry & improvement fuses the world of foundations, initiatives, and system-level policy changes with the ground-level work of college practitioners & college senior leaders.
He has worked on the ground with over 350 colleges around the country both directly and on initiatives such as the AACC Pathways Institutes, the Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence, the California Guided Pathways Initiative, Jobs for the Future’s Student Success Centers in 14 states, Gates’ Completion by Design, Lumina’s Beyond Financial Aid, a variety of state-level and local college projects, and directly with colleges with NCII’s Agency, Attitude and Intensive Implementation (A2I2) cohort model.
He served as a Director, Dean and Provost in the California community college system for over a decade, and worked as a strategic consultant in industry prior to shifting to higher education. He brings a unique dual perspective with over 25 years of consulting experience in industry and higher education, and brings an energy and passion for authentic change to improve outcomes.
Lexie Waugh
Senior Program Manager, Jobs for the Future
Alexandra (Lexie) Waugh is a senior program manager for JFF’s Postsecondary team, providing technical assistance and strategic support to state systems and institutions.
She helps states and their community colleges increase the number of students who complete college and earn high-value credentials that lead to good jobs. Her responsibilities include developing and coordinating customized technical assistance opportunities for state and systems leaders, as well as networks.
Currently, she leads the Student Success Center Network’s state engagement strategy and the Student Success Center Network Leadership Team.
Alexandra focuses on identifying and expanding state and institutional policies and practices to support learners. She works closely with state education and workforce systems, postsecondary institutions, workforce development boards, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders to design and implement tailored technical assistance strategies. Those efforts include creating customized tools for designing meta-majors, cultivating regional partnerships, assessing organizational capacity, leveraging and braiding funding, engaging employers, and more.
Before coming to JFF, Alexandra supported the design and implementation of a five-year research project funded by the William T. Grant Foundation focused on the transition of youth with disabilities into adulthood. She also served under Massachusetts State Senator Cynthia Creem as a Barbara Lee Family Foundation Fellow.
Outside of JFF, Alexandra is a dedicated community member. She serves on her town’s historical commission and is a member of and a volunteer for the Massachusetts Archaeological Society.
Dr. Andrea Wade
Provost & VIce President, Monroe Community College
Dr. Andrea C. Wade is currently serving as Provost and Vice President of Academic Services at Monroe Community College.
Dr. Wade’s expertise in higher education includes more than 20 years of experience teaching and coordinating learning experiences in classroom, laboratory, clinical, and online modalities. Her administrative areas of interest and expertise include institutional and programmatic accreditation, curriculum development, workforce development, and shared governance. She has written and/or served as the Principal Investigator or Project Director for a number of grants related to healthcare, workforce, and instructional technologies.
Dr. Wade holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology/Medical Technology from The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.; and a Master of Science and Doctorate in Microbiology from the University of Notre Dame. She served as a Research Fellow at Notre Dame’s LOBUND Laboratory, where her research focused on tumor and transplant immunology. Her academic teaching career began at Indiana University South Bend and at St. Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana. Her career transitioned to the healthcare industry, where she served in both technical and administrative roles in the clinical laboratory, advancing to the position of Clinical Laboratory Manager. Dr. Wade returned to academia at SUNY Broome Community College, eventually attaining the rank of tenured full Professor and also earning the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. She then transitioned into higher education administration, where she held responsibility for Distance Education, Professional Development, Adult Education, and the Health Sciences Division as Associate Vice President and Dean at SUNY Broome.
