Joe D. May – Chair
Prior to assuming the Chair’s position, Dr. May served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Global Citizenship Alliance for 8 years. He is Chancellor Emeritus of Dallas College, where he served as the seventh chancellor. Dr. May is known both nationally and internationally as a result of his relentless advocacy for the role of community colleges in solving today’s most challenging social issues. During his seven years as president of the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, enrollment increased from 71,000 to more than 160,000 students. As a community leader and educator, Dr. May strongly believes in achieving academic excellence and has worked closely with public school districts, sponsored charter schools, career academies and early college programs. A hallmark of his approach to leading community colleges is the creation of public-private partnerships. By forming these partnerships, Dr. May has helped jump-start new economic investment and job creation. Respected throughout the world, he has delivered consulting services to new community college initiatives in Japan, the United Kingdom, Russia and Saudi Arabia.
Yolanda T. Moses – Vice Chair
Dr. Moses served as president of the American Anthropological Association, chair of the board of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, past president of City University of New York/The City College (1993-1999), president of the American Association for Higher Education (2000-2003), and Associate Vice Chancellor of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of California, Riverside. She currently serves as professor of anthropology at the University of California, Riverside. Dr. Moses’ research focuses on the broad question of the origins of social inequality in complex societies through the use of comparative ethnographic and survey methods. She has explored gender and class disparities in the Caribbean, East Africa and in the United States. More recently, her research has focused on issues of diversity and change in universities and colleges in the United States, India, Europe, South Africa, and Australia.
Santwana Dasgupta – Treasurer
Ms. Dasgupta is development and grants specialist for the Minneapolis Public Housing Authority. She was the director of Partnership for the Education of Children in Afghanistan (P.E.C.A). She visited Afghanistan for the first time in 2006 and was moved both by the devastation caused by decades of war and by the valiant efforts of the Afghans to rebuild their country. She started as a volunteer with P.E.C.A., became a board member in 2007 and now serves P.E.C.A. as the volunteer executive director. She took a position with the Higher Education Project, an USAID funded program, and teaches leadership and management classes to the education faculty of 22 universities and institutes of higher learning across Afghanistan.
Maghan Keita – Secretary
Dr. Keita is professor of history, director of the Institute for Global Interdisciplinary Studies, and chair of the unit on Critical Language and Cultural Studies at Villanova University. He was the chair of the Board of Trustees of the College Board and has spent the majority of his professional life concentrating on issues of education in various venues with a particular focus on excellence, access and equity in the educational process. Dr. Keita holds a B.A. in Chinese language and East Asian studies from Oberlin College; an M.A. in American history from Cleveland State University; and a Ph.D. in African studies from Howard University. He joined the GCA Teaching Faculty in 2013.
Augie Gallego
Mr. Gallego is the chancellor emeritus of the San Diego Community College District (SDCCD), a position he held from 1990 until 2004. While chief executive officer of one of the nation’s largest community college districts, over 100,000 students enrolled in the three colleges, six centers, and in the First Responders Regional Public Safety Institute. Earlier in his career, Mr. Gallego served as associate dean of student affairs and associate director of admissions at the University of California-Davis. He also served as dean of the SDCCD Cesar Chavez, West City Centers, provost Educational Cultural Complex and later as the SDCCD director of Instructional and Student Services. During his tenure, Mr. Gallego earned a reputation as a national leader, and was named by Change Magazine as one of the 21 most influential senior leaders in higher education. In 2004, he was awarded the Harry Buttimer Distinguished Administrator Award by the Association of Community College Administrators. In 1998, Mr. Gallego served as chair of the American Association of Community Colleges and he was the second community college chief executive to serve as board chair of the American Council on Education. He was the founding chair of the Global Citizenship Alliance.
Regina S. Peruggi
As President of Kingsborough Community College/CUNY from 2004-2013, Dr. Peruggi was a strong supporter of the GCA by attending one of its seminars and funded a cohort of students each year to participate in the Global Citizenship seminars. As a highly student-centered leader, she secured recognition of Kingsborough as a Finalist with Distinction for the 2023 Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence. She also served as President of Central Park Conservancy, President of Marymount Manhattan College, and as a dean at the Central Office of CUNY. Dr. Peruggi has served on the boards of numerous organizations, including as Board Chair at The Havens Relief Fund Society and Co-President of the Board of the Carroll and Milton Petrie Foundation.
Reza Fakhari – President / CEO
Prior to assuming this position, Dr. Fakhari served as the Secretary of the Board of Directors of the Global Citizenship Alliance for 8 years. He was elected to the Amnesty International USA Board of Directors in 2014 and served as Vice Chair and then Chair of the Board. He served as Vice President for Internationalization and a professor of international politics at St. Francis College in New York City where he led the comprehensive internationalization of the College and continues as a member of the teaching faculty. Prior to that, he served for 30 years in progressively responsible roles at LaGuardia Community College and Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York as professor, director, dean, associate provost, and vice president. Dr. Fakhari has also taught at Fordham University, Vassar College, and International Pacific College in New Zealand. He holds a Ph.D., with Honors, in International Relations from the New School for Social Research in New York City.
