Her Story
About Catherine
Catherine Edmonds brings 34 years of experience to her role as Founding Director of the Forever Learning Initiative at North Carolina A&T State University. This Chancellor's Signature Program builds a lifelong learning ecosystem serving students, families, alumni, and community members through extended campus courses and a First Generation Professionals Framework aimed at preparing day-one-ready professionals. Her prior work includes K-12 district and school transformation at the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, where she led efforts in Halifax County that boosted proficiency rates from 28% to nearly 70% over five years. She also served as interim chancellor at Elizabeth City State University, implementing policy changes such as summer degree conferral that removed barriers to employment and drove record enrollment gains along with a 4.4 percentage point rise in four-year cohort graduation rates. A first-generation college student who majored in math at A&T, Edmonds is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated and other higher education organizations, and she received the Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for her community service in education.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Catherine
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
It is a great profession. It's very impactful on so many lives, and there will be students that you will impact, and you may never know that impact. But they will, just like Catherine Oakley, she never knew the impact that she had on me, but you have an opportunity because you are the person sitting in that seat. You can make things different. Better ensure student success, because you are in the seat. And it's so rewarding.
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