Marlene Garcia is the Executive Director of the California Student Aid Commission where she oversees a budget of close to $3 billion and a team of 125.  She is passionate about expanding educational opportunities by removing financial barriers to college success.

Mrs. Garcia brings 25 years of experience working on education policy issues for a variety of government and higher education institutions. She served more than six years as a national leader in Apple Inc.’s Education Strategic Initiatives Group. Additionally, in her distinguished career, she has served as Vice-Chancellor of Government Relations for the California Community College System, Deputy State Policy Director for the California State University System, and a Senior Policy Consultant in the Senate Education Committee. She also served as a Senior Higher Education Advisor to former Assembly Speaker Willie L. Brown, Jr.

Mrs. Garcia has been nationally recognized for her work and was featured as one of 11 “Higher Education’s New Generation of Thinkers” in the 2005 edition of the Chronicle of Higher Education. She was also a Fellow with the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education in 2004. She is active in several organizations both nationally and in the Sacramento community where she resides with her husband Phil Garcia and their three grown sons.

Mrs. Garcia earned a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish Literature from UCLA and a Master’s Degree in Public Policy from Claremont Graduate School.