Mei-Yen Ireland

Mei-Yen Ireland, Ph.D., is the deputy director for Digital Holistic Student Supports as a part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Postsecondary Success strategy. Mei-Yen leads the team advancing the delivery of equity-centered digital holistic student supports that leverage the power of data, technology, and meaningful human interaction to ensure that more students, particularly Black, Latino, and Indigenous students, and students experiencing poverty obtain quality, affordable credentials offering value and mobility. Prior to joining the foundation, Mei-Yen spent nearly two decades focused on institutional transformation and equitable student success as a practitioner at two- and four-year institutions and as a leader at the non-profit, Achieving the Dream, supporting dozens of community colleges as they redesigned their advising and student services. Mei-Yen's background includes expertise in organizational change, student development theory, equity and inclusion, qualitative research methods, and change leadership. Mei-Yen holds a B.A. in foreign languages from Lewis & Clark College, an M.A. in college student personnel from University of Maryland, and a Ph.D. in education policy & leadership from Ohio State University.