Speakers

Jennifer Keiper currently serves as Senior Director of CollegeBuys at the Foundation for California Community Colleges, where she oversees business development efforts and program operations for the CollegeBuys program. One of her key roles is to sustain core business lines, diversify procurement opportunities, improve operational efficiencies and lead the department’s compliance efforts. Jennifer and her team work closely with the Chancellor’s Office, the Advisory Group and key stakeholders across the 73 districts to ensure their needs are being reflected in systemwide agreements, while simultaneously collaborating with corporate and intersegmental partners to increase access and cost-savings for students, colleges, and the system as a whole. Jennifer has over ten years of experience in California’s public sector, eight of which have been dedicated to contracting in higher education within the CCC and UC systems. In her previous role as Contracts Officer for UC Davis Health, she was responsible for negotiating business contracts for UC Davis Medical Center, School of Medicine, and School of Nursing. Jennifer earned her bachelor of arts in political science from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and her juris doctorate in public interest from UC Davis School of Law.

Jesse currently serves as the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Information Technology Services at Rancho Santiago Community College District, where he is responsible for the overall leadership and administration of the Information Technologies Services Department. Jesse oversees all aspects of information technology, including enterprise applications, infrastructure and telecommunication services, cloud computing, data analytics, academic technology, and information security and compliance. Jesse has over 23 years of Information Technology experience in a variety of industries, including 16 years in various IT management and supervisory roles, 12 of which have been within higher education. Jesse holds an MBA with focus on Information Technology, Management and Business strategy and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, as well as ITIL, CISOA and EDUCAUSE Leadership Institute certifications.

Jorge Burwick serves as the Operations Manager, CollegeBuys where he oversees CollegeBuys contracts, vendor relationships, and contract support functions. Based on systemwide need, he works to develop new business lines by vetting prospective vendors and managing compliant requests for proposals. Jorge supports systemwide collaborative procurement initiatives. Jorge has over 10 years of experience in higher education and has committed himself to working with projects that focus on equity and inclusion. Prior to joining the Foundation, he managed student programs at the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities where he was responsible for corporate relations and campus outreach. Jorge is a native Texan and earned his bachelor's from Trinity University and master's from the University of Texas at San Antonio.