The UCLA Women’s Community College Leadership Academy cultivates women leaders to serve the diverse populations at California’s community colleges.
Through dialogue, mentorship, and real-world strategy, the UCLA Women’s Community College Leadership Academy (WCCLA) cultivates leadership that addresses the needs and reflects the power of California’s diverse community colleges. Enrollment for faculty and administrators is open until September 8, 2025.
The WCCLA started in 2024 and was completed by the first cohort of 25 participants in March of 2025. Academy objectives are to assist participants by increasing their capacity to lead, communicate, and collaborate in times of change; to improving outcomes at their own colleges; and in honing their leadership trajectories. Participants are encouraged to learn from each other and to support each other.
The WCCLA is the third academy founded by UCLA alumna Linda Rose (’83, PhD, Education). She created the UCLA Women’s School Leadership Academy for K-12 school leaders in 2020, and the University Women’s Leadership Academy at UCLA in 2021.
Rose indicates that WCCLA was created to tackle six main issues facing community college leaders, including fiscal challenges; enrollment management and decreasing student enrollment; social and political polarization; income and opportunity disparities; artificial Intelligence; and the need to be flexible and adaptable in demanding times. The academy provides interaction with experts and exceptional community college practitioners. There is inclusive collaboration across varied community college sectors; leadership activities; using a consultancy model; and career planning.
Academy participants have the opportunity to exchange ideas about how to navigate their personal and professional challenges.
“One purpose of the academy is to have women create their own support systems,” says Rose. “The academy provides support for members by others with similar challenges. Members can work on problems together.”
About women’s career progression, Rose notes, “Research has supported this – women are more likely if they’re thinking about getting a different job, to believe that they need to have every qualification. Men are more likely to say, ‘I can do this and this – and then I can learn [the rest].’
“Sometimes we talk about how much things have changed for women, but some things haven’t changed at all,”Rose says. “Women are willing to say, ‘Yes, I’ll do this. I’ll add that on.’ Some don’t know their own value.”
Rose says that women leaders in community college have a unique perspective on students’ needs.
Rose, who previously led the UCLA Educational Leadership Program from 1993 to 2019, says that she intentionally designed the WCCLA to be different from a master’s or doctoral program.
“Community colleges serve such a diverse audience,” she says. “They have a tripartite mission: transfer to a four-year college; vocational education; and lifelong learning. You may not find the preparation that I’ve been talking about in degree programs. Some women who’ve done the academy want to lead in positions where they can influence community college outcomes. Some don’t want a higher position – they want to add to what they’re doing, to improve outcomes.”
The UCLA Women’s Community College Leadership Academy (WCCLA) is currently accepting applications for its 2025-2026 program. Designed to help participants tackle current and emerging issues facing California’s community colleges, the WCCLA is open to full-time faculty, deans and directors of all gender identities who work in academic, student, and administrative services. The deadline to apply is Sept. 8, 2025.
All sessions of the 2025-2026 WCCLA are virtual, with the first session taking place on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2025, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. PST, and the last session on Saturday, March 21, 2026, 9 a.m. – 2 p.m. PST. The duration of the academy will take place on 10 Wednesdays, 6:30-9 p.m., from Nov. 2025 to March 2026.
To apply to the UCLA Women’s Community College Leadership Academy or for more information, visit the WCCLA website.
Above: Linda Rose, PhD, has founded three academies for women in educational leadership from K-12 through university. She created the UCLA Women’s Community College Leadership Academy in 2024 to cultivate leadership that addresses the needs and reflects the power of California’s diverse community colleges.