Race to 100 Alumni
Nancy Lee Sánchez-Badillo, Ed.D.
Early Childhood Education Major
KCC Class of 1995
Current Title/Profession: : Vice President of Institutional Advancement at KCC
KCC Foundation Board Executive Director
Nominated by: Aba Agolli
Nancy Lee Sánchez-Badillo, Ed.D. is the Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Kingsborough Community College. A KCC alum, Dr. Sánchez-Badillo is a former board member and now the Executive Director of the Kingsborough Community College Foundation and has a long history with KCC. VP Sánchez-Badillo has over 20 years of expertise providing greater access to higher education, improving the college experience, and supporting leadership among low-income, under-represented and nontraditional students through collaborative partnerships and services that directly target factors affecting degree-attainment gaps.
When discussing the impact Kingsborough had on her she explains, “Kingsborough gave me the opportunity to enter higher education and gave me the foundation and skills to not just complete an associate degree in education, but placed the seed of commitment to developing sound educational environments committed to meeting the highest potential of students. I never really left KCC. The lessons I learned have stayed with me during the last 20 years, and each step in my career has been propelled by the investment KCC made in me.”
Dr. Sánchez-Badillo previously served as the executive director of Kaplan Foundation and most recently as the chief opportunity officer for Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) International Honor Society, where she was responsible for strategic development aimed at increasing the number of students served; built a sustainable donor base that included corporations, major donors, and partner organizations; established an alumni organization and partnerships with colleges resulting in more than 30 colleges guaranteeing reduced or no cost tuition for students. She also secured a $3 million grant from corporate foundations that targeted degree completion for community college students. She supervised a portfolio of $245 million in transfer scholarships and corporate partnerships and private donors that support $1.5 million in annual scholarship funds.
In addition to her work with students, Dr. Sánchez-Badillo is a frequent media spokesperson on issues around degree attainment gaps and has been interviewed by national media outlets, including ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, and SiriusXM. She has also spoken at national educational conferences, including ASU+GSV, NACAC, NISTS, NASPA, and PTK. Dr. Sánchez has been invited to speak at the United Nations and the Aspen Institute on expanding the community college talent pipeline. Her work has been featured in Inside Higher Ed, the Daily News, DIVERSE Issues in Higher Education, the Hechinger Report and PBS News Hour. She is the author of “Your Guide to College Transfer,” and a regular contributor to Forbes.
Dr. Sánchez-Badillo has served as a selection judge for multiple scholarship programs, including the Dell Scholars Foundation, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, and the Coca-Cola Scholars through Phi Theta Kappa. She also served as the chairman of the board for New York Math Academy and Coaching Services.
A 2014 National Hispanic Executive Leadership Fellow, Dr. Sánchez-Badillo completed an executive leadership program at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and a leadership development program at the Center for Creative Leadership. She holds an Ed.D. in innovation and leadership from New York University Steinhardt School of Education, an M.A. in sociology from Brooklyn College, CUNY, a B.A.Sc. in elementary education from Long Island University and an A.S. in early childhood education from Kingsborough Community College.