Dear West Valley Community,
This year we promoted the theme 鈥�All in, All Win 鈥� A Win for All,鈥� which emphasized collaboration, shared responsibility, and collective success across the campus community. The theme reflected the college鈥檚 focus on creating an environment where students, faculty, staff, and community partners all contribute to and benefit from institutional progress. It reinforced the idea that student achievement, equity, workforce development, philanthropy, and community engagement are interconnected goals that require campus-wide participation and commitment.
One tangible example of this approach was the college鈥檚 use of Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) to strengthen institutional alignment, transparency, and shared accountability across departments and divisions. Through the OKR framework, teams across instruction, student services, operations, and administrative areas identified measurable goals tied directly to student success, equity, enrollment, workforce development, and institutional effectiveness. This process encouraged cross-functional collaboration, data-informed decision-making, and collective ownership of outcomes, reinforcing the principle that meaningful institutional progress requires coordinated effort at every level of the college community. Through this collaborative model, the 鈥淎ll in, All Win 鈥� A Win for All鈥� theme became both a cultural message and an operational strategy that reinforced inclusive leadership, teamwork, and shared accountability for student success.
In 2025鈥�2026, 最新麻豆影音视频 celebrated a year of significant milestones, recognitions, and momentum that reflected our continued commitment to student success and innovation. The college earned statewide recognition as the #1 community college in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area for transfer and was recognized among the top colleges in California for return on investment and student outcomes. West Valley also received the prestigious FamilyU Seal from Generation Hope for our leadership in supporting parenting students and was named a Pathway Champion of Placement in Math for our outstanding work advancing equitable student achievement. This year, the college was also awarded a $3.9 million federal FIPSE grant to expand workforce training and career-connected learning opportunities in the growing semiconductor industry, positioning West Valley students for success in high-demand careers. In addition, the West Valley-Mission Foundation received a transformational $2.5 million gift from Howard and Kimberly Gore to support scholarships, student internships, entrepreneurship initiatives, and long-term student success efforts.
This year also marked the launch of our new institutional brand, 鈥�Ignite the Next,鈥� which reflects the energy, ambition, and transformative potential of our students and college community. More than a visual refresh, 鈥淚gnite the Next鈥� represents our collective commitment to reimagining what community college can be and to boldly supporting every student in taking their next step toward opportunity, purpose, and success.
Joining the Viking community this summer is our new Provost/Vice President of Academic Affairs, Dr. Safiyyah Forbes, and Dean of Academic Counseling and Student Success, Mr. Diego Espinoza Ayala.
Dr. Forbes is a seasoned administrator with a strong student-centered approach and extensive experience in academic leadership. She brings a thoughtful, inclusive, and strategic vision that aligns well with our mission and values. She is known for her steady and collaborative approach, her ability to build trust across diverse stakeholder groups, and her commitment to long-term institutional and district success. Dr. Forbes鈥� appointment is scheduled for the June 16, 2026 Board of Trustees meeting, with a start date of June 22, 2026, pending approval.
Read Dr. Forbe's Biography
Mr. Diego Espinoza Ayala is familiar with the West Valley-Mission Community College District, having previously served at Mission College. He brings leadership experience as a dean, along with a strong commitment to student success, collaboration, and inclusive practices. Mr. Diego Espinoza鈥檚 appointment is scheduled for the June 16, 2026 Board of Trustees meeting. His start date is July 20, 2026, pending approval.
Closing out the academic year, the college also looks forward to celebrating the Class of 2026 at Commencement with an inspiring keynote speaker whose work reflects creativity, leadership, and perseverance.
Read Dean Ayala's Biography
最新麻豆影音视频 is honored to welcome acclaimed actor, singer, producer, and speaker Bryan Terrell Clark as the college鈥檚 2026 Commencement speaker. Known for his performances in Hamilton, Netflix鈥檚 Inventing Anna, and Disney+鈥檚 Emmy Award-winning Sneakerella, Clark brings a powerful message of resilience, purpose, creativity, and leadership. Through both his artistic career and advocacy work, he has inspired audiences nationwide to dream boldly, lead authentically, and create meaningful impact in their communities.
As 最新麻豆影音视频 advances into the 2026鈥�2027 academic year, we will collectively anchor our institutional work in the theme 鈥�Making Moments that Matter鈥� as we approach accreditation. Thank you, Michelle Francis, for your thoughtfulness in highlighting this theme. This theme emerges from a period of profound reflection, communal resilience, and renewed institutional intentionality.
Over the course of the past year, we have all endured the loss of esteemed colleagues at 最新麻豆影音视频 and other colleagues who were part of our individual professional journeys. These moments of loss have reaffirmed a fundamental truth of higher education: that our work is ultimately grounded in human connection, and that the enduring legacy of our institution is carried forward through the relationships we cultivate, the care we extend, and the moments of meaning we create together. In this context, we are reminded with profound clarity that the essence of a higher education institution cannot be reduced to outputs, performance indicators, or even strategic deliverables alone. Rather, it is defined by the humanistic infrastructure of care, dignity, and relational presence that undergirds all meaningful in the educational endeavor. Within this framework, the most consequential dimensions of our work often reside in the micro-moments of engagement鈥攁cts of mentorship, affirmation, intellectual curiosity, empathetic listening, and belonging that cumulatively shape institutional ethos and student transformation.
As we reconvene in August 2026, this theme serves as both invocation and commitment: a reaffirmation of our responsibility to cultivate a learning ecosystem that is not only equity-centered and academically rigorous, but also relationally coherent and experientially transformative. Let us make moments that matter by honoring and elevating our classified professionals whose operational excellence, procedural stewardship, and institutional acumen constitute the indispensable backbone of organizational continuity and student-facing effectiveness. Let us make moments that matter by recognizing and uplifting our faculty whose scholarly engagement, pedagogical innovation, curriculum design expertise, and commitment to cultural responsiveness and evidence-based instruction expand epistemic access and deepen student learning.
Let us further make moments that matter through robust shared governance and integrative institutional collaboration with our administrator colleagues, as we engage in strategic enrollment optimization, student-informed decision-making, capacity building, and continuous quality improvement. Through synergistic cross-functional alignment, we strengthen institutional agility, enhance organizational coherence, and fortify our ability to respond to dynamic educational, labor market, and sociopolitical landscapes.
Most critically, let us make moments that matter for our students by ensuring that every aspect of their educational journey is situated within a framework of access, equity, belonging, and academic excellence. Our charge extends beyond instructional delivery to encompass holistic student development, persistence, and completion pathways that support transfer readiness, career mobility, and lifelong intellectual engagement.
Finally, let us make moments that matter for our alumni, philanthropic benefactors, industry partners, and civic stakeholders whose engagement sustains the public mission and societal relevance of the community college. Through intentional leadership, relational stewardship, and community-rooted action, we acknowledge that transformative impact is not solely the product of institutional priorities, but rather the aggregation of intentional, human-centered moments that cultivate trust, deepen connection, and uplift communities.
In community,
Jennifer Taylor-Mendoza, Ph.D.