Elif Yucel, PhD

Associate Learning and Evaluation Officer Elif Yucel, Ph.D., supports the learning and evaluation efforts that inform the Foundation’s grantmaking and advances our commitment to sharing knowledge internally and with the field.

Prior to joining ECMC Foundation, Elif worked in higher education for more than a decade, holding roles in college advising, student services and prison education. Her dissertation examined reentry programs and support for formerly incarcerated students on community college campuses and the role these programs play in the reentry and higher education landscapes. Elif’s research has also examined equity issues facing community colleges and higher education policy, with an explicit focus on transfer, developmental education and access and completion for justice-impacted students.

Elif’s work has received many awards, including the Bellwether Outstanding Dissertation Award, USC Rossier’s Ph.D. Dissertation of Distinction Award, CSCC’s Outstanding Graduate Student Award, AERA Sociology of Education SIG’s Maureen Hallinan Graduate Student Paper Award, among other distinctions. She has presented at numerous conferences over the years, including AEFP, AERA, ASA, ASHE, CSCC and NCHEP. Her research has been published in American Educational Research Journal, Review of Higher Education, New Directions for Community Colleges, Journal Committed to Social Change on Race and Ethnicity and the Journal of College Student Retention: Research, Theory & Practice.

Elif holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in urban education policy from the University of Southern California. She also holds a Master of Education in education policy and planning from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Arts in Chinese from Trinity University.

Why are you working at ECMC Foundation and committed to working toward improving higher education for underserved learners?

My professional, educational and community work experiences have all been centered around and in service of supporting underserved students. I work for ECMC Foundation because I believe that all students deserve access to high-quality education and to be supported in achieving their college and career goals. As a scholar, I understand the importance of funding well-designed, innovative and thoughtful programming and research intended to positively transform postsecondary education. I am grateful to be part of an organization like ECMC Foundation that is committed to pursuing systemic change in higher education.