4CS Board Bios
Therese Grande
South East 2 Area Representive
Golden West College
Therese Grande’s career in higher education spans over fifteen years at both public and private institutions and includes cross-functional experience in student affairs, curriculum and instruction, and institutional planning. In her current role as the Student Life & Leadership Specialist at Golden West College, she trains and advises student leaders, facilitates campus-wide programming, and helps foster an environment where students can meaningfully engage with peers, faculty, staff, and administration outside the classroom.
She joined the 4CS Board in June 2020 as the Southeast Area 2 Rep. In the Coast Community College District, Therese served as both the Secretary (2014-2016) and President (2016-2017) of the Orange Coast College Classified Senate, Co-Chair of the Golden West College Classified Connection (2017-2018), and helped establish the Golden West College Classified Senate before serving as President-Elect (2018-2019) and President (2019-2020). In these roles, she helped create and revise governing documents to establish a more sustainable and representative leadership model, successfully advocated for a $10,000 annual budget for the OCC Classified Senate, and worked with Classified Senate and Union leadership across the District to secure release time for the Classified Senate Executive Board at each campus.
Therese is passionate about leveraging educational policy, institutional governance, and organizational structures to improve access and educational outcomes for students who have traditionally been underserved or marginalized by systemic inequities. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from New York University, a master’s degree in Public Policy and Public Administration from California State University Long Beach, and is an alum of the California Education Policy Fellowship program. Outside of work, Therese is a bar-trivia enthusiast, yogi, and runner, and is working on a bucket list dream to complete all 6 Abbott World Marathon Majors (Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, New York City, and Tokyo).