Katie Avila

Katie is passionate about the role higher education can play as a catalyst for social change, and thus her professional roles have centered around improving access to higher education for students and communities alike. As the Haas Center's Director of Community Partnerships, she leads the center’s communications with and support for community-based organizations that partner with our programs. She directs our VISTA program, which places five recent graduates with local host organizations for a year of service. Katie also directs our Distinguished Visitor program, welcoming a cohort of exemplary public service leaders to our campus each winter and spring.

She previously served as Director of Outreach at Cal State East Bay where she led recruitment efforts for the campus in collaboration with campus and community partners. As a regional institution, she had a particular focus on creating and strengthening pipeline programs for local students in pursuit of a college degree. Prior to that, she led the creation and implementation of the community partnership program for optiMize, a social impact organization at the University of Michigan (U-M) with the goal of creating a more just and sustainable society. In this role, she created partnerships statewide in an effort to empower students at community colleges and other universities to work on social issues important to them and their communities. Katie holds a master’s degree in higher education with public policy concentration from U-M and bachelor’s degree in anthropology from UC Santa Barbara. She is also a proud community college alum, having attended and transferred from Golden West College in SoCal.

Outside of work, when Katie doesn’t have her nose in a book, she enjoys watching sports (especially her favorite teams - the LA Dodgers and the Detroit Lions), spending time with friends and family, exploring the Bay Area, cooking, and trying new-to-her brunch spots.