The Lumina Foundation in Indianapolis has announced the appointment of Danette Howard as vice president for policy and mobilization. Dr. Howard has been serving as secretary of higher education for the state of Maryland. Earlier in her career she was assistant director of higher education policy at The Education Trust in Washington, D.C., and served as a student affairs administrator and admissions officer for the University of Maryland Baltimore County.
Dr. Howard is a summa cum laude graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C. She holds a master’s degree from the Graduate School of Education at Harvard University and a doctorate in higher education policy from the University of Maryland at College Park.
The Lumina Foundation has a stated goal of increasing the proportion of adult Americans with college degrees to 60 percent by the year 2025. In 2012, the Lumina Foundation made 70 grants for a total commitment of more than $30 million.
Not very effective in raising increase graduation rates state wide in Maryland.
Several oversight missteps with state higher education funding not being disseminated to need base students through the university system.
Not an effective enforcer for Maryland HBCU’s to comply with university trustee/regents violation of open meeting compliance regulations.