The mission of CCCAOE is to provide leadership for occupational education and economic development professionals involved in workplace development and the enhancement of California’s position within a global economy.

Edith Leonhardt, City College of San Francisco
With modest funding, Dr. Edie Leonhardt has invested time, energy and innovation to make the City College of San Francisco’s Bridge to Biotech program an overwhelming success. Recognizing that many students lacked the skills to begin the program, she developed a program titled On-Ramp to the Bridge. This program builds the necessary foundation through three integrated courses (biotechnology, language and mathematics) and provides practical laboratory experiences for students. She also serves as co-director of the Northern California Biotechnology Center, has co-authored inquiry based integrated biotechnology instructional materials and has taught biotechnology at several colleges. Dr. Leonhardt serves as a teacher and mentor for students and other faculty. Dr. Leonhardt earned her Ph.D. in Genetics from UC Davis.

Nominee Recognition
Therese Butler, Long Beach City College
Dana Wasmer, Consumnes River College

The Automotive Technology program at Rio Hondo goes above and beyond the call of duty to take care of their students, the community and their industry partners. The faculty and staff continually analyze models of student success and incorporate approaches that ensure retention, impactful learning and job placement. They have integrated academics by pairing automotive courses with math and English. The curriculum is cutting edge: providing students training in the use of Alternative Fuel Technology and Advanced Transportation Technology. The faculty and staff have developed interdisciplinary and public/private partnerships. Because of this program, students have been able to move up career ladders to lucrative positions which enhance California’s position within the global economy.

Nominee Recognition
Bridge to Biotech, City College of San Francisco, James B. Lewis, Coordinator
CISCO Program, Clearlake College, Bob Schoenherr, Instructor
Cosmetology Program, Golden West College, Jean May, Coordinator
Law/Administration of Justice Program, Los Angeles City College,
Tim Sweetman, Instructor
Mule Trainer’s Program, Pierce College, Dorothy Rupert & Steve Edwards, Instructors
Title IV-E Project, Chabot-Las Positas Community College District

Pamela Lyau, City College of San Francisco
Ms. Pamela Lyau has made a significant contribution to the contract education programs of the Bay Area Consortia. She developed a successful telemarketing campaign to promote 26 Bay Area colleges. The campaign resulted in nine proposals totaling approximately $150,000 and 100 requests for information or services from Bay Area businesses. She coordinated four regional trade shows which targeted human resource professionals, created a regional marketing brochure and enhanced the regional website with a new leads classification capability and terminology. Her initiative, leadership and creativity resulted in a 134% increase in executed contracts and a 190% increase in contract education revenue for Bay Area Colleges.

Pierce College in partnership with Office Depot
Los Angeles’ Pierce College, through its Computer Applications and Office Technologies Department, recognized early on the potential impact of speech recognition software on employee productivity. Under the leadership of Dr. Lyn Clark, they initiated a one-unit course to develop proficiency in using voice input and a three-unit course integrating voice input and language principles to create business documents. As in many instances in many Community Colleges, equipment needs, software upgrades and budgets are not always aligned. If these courses were to be successful, outside resources would be needed to purchase new equipment and software upgrades. Through the Economic Alliance of the San Fernando Valley, the college formed a partnership with Office Depot and received 32 state-of-the-art computers. This enabled students in these courses to obtain skills that increased their employability and their ability to advance in the workplace.

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