Leah Abate

She oversees teams working on community outreach and engagement, and environmental equity programs. Leah is passionate about connecting California community college students and communities, particularly those who have been historically underserved, to quality resources and programs that help them when they need it most.

FoundationCCC Highlights

• Co-led the planning and implementation of the California Community Colleges Dreamers Project and final report, a road map to help colleges institutionalize support for undocumented students. 
• Expanded the organization’s capacity to support State agencies through remote call center services, which connected over 1 million community members to State benefits or information between 2020 and 2023.

Before joining the Foundation in 2018, Leah was an instrumental part of the team at Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) based in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties, which supported entrepreneurship and small business development for women. During her 12 years there, she held several positions and ultimately became part of the leadership team responsible for the success of WEV’s entrepreneurial education programs.

Leah received her B.A. degree from UC Santa Barbara with a major in global studies and a minor in Spanish, including one year at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. She has also taken classes at Sacramento City and Santa Barbara City Colleges.