Ben Cannon

Executive Director, Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission

Executive Director of the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission since 2013. In this position, Cannon oversees state funding allocations, policy-setting, and coordination for Oregon’s higher education system, including community colleges and public universities. Cannon is a former teacher, state representative and education policy advisor to the Governor. Elected three times to the Oregon House of Representatives (2006-2011), he chaired House committees with jurisdiction over environment, energy, and water policy. From 2003 to 2011, he taught humanities at a middle school near Portland. He earned his BA from Washington University, St. Louis, and attended Oxford University, England, on a Rhodes Scholarship, earning graduate degrees in comparative and international education and philosophy, politics, and economics.

Camille Preus *

Past Executive Director, Oregon Community College Association

Camille (Cam) Preus served as the executive director of the Oregon Community College Association, a role she began in Fall 2018. Previously she had been president of Blue Mountain Community College (BMCC) serving Morrow, Umatilla and Baker counties in Oregon. Preus serves on boards that champion and advocate for increasing opportunity for postsecondary education, a few of note include: Eastern Oregon Women’s Coalition, Oregon Humanities Board, the Quality Education Commission and the Western Interstate Commission on Higher Education (WICHE). Prior to her appointment as president in 2013, Preus held leadership roles in Oregon in community colleges & workforce development at both state and local levels. She also has private sector experience as a chemist and quality control manager with United States Steel. Preus graduated from Cumberland College (TN), Middle Tennessee State University, earned an MSBA from Indiana University and received her doctorate in Community College Leadership from Oregon State University.

Hilda Rosselli

Educational Policy Consultant

Hilda Rosselli has an extensive background in higher education with experience as a faculty member and dean in both Florida and Oregon, and policy development for the state of Oregon. She helped create a Chief Education Office where she facilitated development of the state’s definition of College and Career readiness and championed legislation to improve early access to high quality college level courses for high school students. She regularly engaged community leaders, educators and researchers across the state to identify and promote short and long term goals and plans for increasing college access and completion for historically-underserved students working closely with lead staff from the Oregon Youth Development Council, the Oregon Department of Education and the Higher Education Coordinating Commission. She assisted in the creation and launch of the Oregon Equity Lens, established the Educator Advancement Council to prioritize local educator voice informing biennial legislative investments, created a new state-funded scholarship to diversify Oregon’s educator workforce, and developed strong partnerships between higher education and employers. She now consults and writes grants with a focus on equity, access, and excellence.

Teresa Alonso León

Representative, Oregon State Legislature

Michael Dembrow

Senator, Oregon State Legislature

Rob Wagner

Senator, Oregon State Legislature