Speakers

Keetha Mills is President and CEO of the Foundation for California Community Colleges. Under her leadership, the Foundation has expanded overall impact through the development and delivery of more than 40 mission-aligned programs and services across five areas of impact: student success, workforce development, equity, community impact, and system support. Since her appointment in 2012, the Foundation has significantly increased available resources to total over $50 million in annual support of the California Community Colleges and its students. Inspired to further this success, the Foundation has launched an ambitious goal to double its impact over the next decade, with Mills challenging her team to create innovative solutions and forge valuable partnerships that will continue to drive annual increases in resources brought in by the Foundation to benefit the California Community Colleges.

Mills’ professional background includes over 20 years of experience in executive leadership, finance, accounting, and operations, which she leverages to lead the nonprofit through a business-centric lens. Credited to her focus on operational discipline, the Foundation continues to achieve strategic year-after-year growth, resulting in an expanded portfolio of resources, services, and specialized programs that increase opportunity and improve outcomes for more than 2.1 million students across all 116 community colleges.

Kevin Flanagan is a program manager for SPURR’s Renewable Energy Aggregated
Procurement (REAP) Program. Kevin has 15+ years of experience working in the energy
industry with a focus on renewable energy, RFP management, feasibility studies, and
contract negotiation. Kevin is a graduate of Cal Poly SLO and more than anything enjoys
spending time with his family exploring the world.

Kim Aviles started her professional career in public purchasing in 2019 as an assistant in the Procurement Department of her alma mater, San Francisco State University. From there, Kim became a temporary buyer for the University. Upon graduation, she went into private sector purchasing for a commercial real estate firm. In 2022, Kim went back to serving her community as a full-time buyer for San Mateo County Community College District where she is now the interim senior buyer. As the senior buyer for the district, Kim is in charge of managing the district’s fixed assets, the Xerox fleet, as well as the purchasing for: Cañada College, the ITS department, 2 athletic centers, and the district’s radio station – KCSM. When Kim isn’t crushing it at work, she can be found hiking, whipping up culinary masterpieces in the kitchen, or getting lost in a good book.

Kim Carrillo graduated with a B.S. from CSU Sacramento and is Interim Purchasing Supervisor for Los Rios Community College District, servicing California’s second largest community college district. She provides public bid and procurement expertise to support the successful implementation of the District’s $1 billion capital building program and facilities maintenance and operations of 4.5 million square feet of District space. Kim is a contributing member to the CCC Facilities Procurement Guidebook, and NCCCPG committees. She deployed electronic bidding and has successfully bid out over $60 million in new construction projects since 2020. Having worked for over 13 years in higher education, she has a well-informed perspective to apply procurement strategy, leverage cooperative agreements, and makes efforts to increase the District’s vendor diversity.

Kim Simonds is the Purchasing Supervisor at MiraCosta College. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Leadership from Colorado State University and a Master of Public Administration from California State University, Long Beach. She has over 20 years of procurement experience in the California Community College System. In the 13 years she has been with MiraCosta College, she has specialized in Public Works/Construction including related professional services and Contract Administration.

Kim Simonds is the Purchasing Supervisor at MiraCosta College. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Leadership from Colorado State University and a Master of Public Administration from California State University, Long Beach. She has over 20 years of procurement experience in the California Community College System. In the 13 years she has been with MiraCosta College, she has specialized in Public Works/Construction including related professional services and Contract Administration.