As CEO of California Competes, Dr. Su Jin Jez leads the organization’s work to develop nonpartisan and financially pragmatic recommendations for improved higher education and workforce policies and practices across California. Prior to joining California Competes, she spent over a decade as a professor of Public Policy and Administration at California State University, Sacramento. Su Jin is an accomplished researcher who has been widely published in leading academic journals and provides guidance to California’s higher education institutions and leadership through her applied research. In recognition of her contributions to transforming higher education, Dr. Jez received Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education’s highest alumni distinction, the 2023 Stanford Alumni Excellence in Education Award. She holds a PhD in education administration and policy analysis and an MA in economics from Stanford University. She received a bachelor’s in statistics and a minor in public policy from the University of California, Berkeley.