Argelia Rodriguez, President and CEO of D.C. College Access Program, to Speak at Trinity Commencement

President McGuire announced that the 2010 Commencement speaker at Trinity Washington University will be Argelia Rodriguez, president and chief executive officer of the District of Columbia College Access Program (DC-CAP). “Every year at Commencement, we invite a distinguished woman leader to address our graduates, in keeping with Trinity’s women’s leadership tradition,” said President McGuire. “Argelia Rodriguez’s story and impressive record of achievements will be a great inspiration for our graduates.” Trinity’s Commencement will be held on Sunday, May 23, at 11:00 a.m. Rodriguez will be presented with an honorary doctorate of laws.

Argelia Rodriguez

Argelia Rodriguez

Argelia Rodriguez is the first appointed president and CEO of DC-CAP, an organization established in 1999 and funded by Washington-area companies and foundations that is dedicated to encouraging and enabling District public and public charter high school students to enter and graduate from college. As president and CEO, Rodriguez is responsible for operating 40 college information centers in the District’s public and public charter high schools around the city, administering more than $2.7 million dollars in scholarship funds each year and providing college and financial counseling to more than 16,000 high school and college students and their parents.

Under the leadership of Rodriguez, DC-CAP has assisted more than 13,000 students to enroll in college, helping to double the D.C. public and public charter high school student college enrollment rate while establishing DC-CAP as one of the country’s leaders in college retention research and practice. DC-CAP has also tripled the District’s graduation rate with more than 3,000 graduates since its inception.  She helped position DC-CAP to support a partnership with Congress for the enactment and implementation of the unprecedented D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant legislation (DC-TAG), allowing D.C. students to attend public institutions around the country at in-state tuition rates and to receive grants to attend private universities in D.C.  Under her leadership, DC-CAP has been certified as a four star nonprofit organization by Charity Navigator, America’s largest independent charity evaluator. The four star rating, Charity Navigator’s highest rating, indicates DC-CAP is exceptional at managing its finances, exceeds industry standards and outperforms most other charities in its cause category.

Prior to her appointment, Rodriguez had been co-founder and CEO of her own educational and management consulting firm serving a wide array of educational and corporate clients, including D.C. Public Schools, AT&T, Clark Atlanta University, National Medical Association, Howard University Small Business Development Center and Quality Education for Minorities.  In the area of education, her firm focused on curriculum development, educational research, staff development, minority student achievement and the implementation of “at-risk” student intervention strategies. Management services included strategic planning, industry and competitive analysis, organizational development and new business start-ups.

Rodriguez began her consulting career with the firm Booz, Allen & Hamilton. During her tenure there, she provided Fortune 500 corporations with services in the areas of marketing, strategic planning, mergers and acquisitions, diversification strategies, market research and new product development.

Rodriguez earned a bachelor of science degree in industrial engineering and operations research from Stanford University and an MBA from the Harvard Graduate School of Business. During her career, she has held positions at Marine Midland Bank, IBM and Texas Instruments. She served as the deputy director of product marketing and educational outreach for President Clinton for the 1997 Presidential Inauguration, during which time she established a partnership with PBS to present the first interactive internet Presidential Inauguration, history classroom and curriculum.  The Harvard Business School African Alumni Association recently presented Rodriguez with the prestigious Bert King Award for Service. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Trinity Washington University.

Trinity Washington University was founded in 1897 and today enrolls more than 2,000 students. Trinity offers a full range of undergraduate and graduate programs for students of all ages, with a special emphasis on women’s education and the liberal arts in the College of Arts and Sciences, and professional development in the coeducational School of Education and School of Professional Studies.  Trinity proudly educates more D.C. residents than any other private university in the nation and more then 100 Trinity students currently receive DC-CAP “Last Dollar Award” scholarships.  More than 300 undergraduate and graduate diplomas will be awarded at Trinity’s Commencement.

Commencement 2010

DC-CAP