Lauren Treacy Named New Executive Director at College Possible Washington

Lauren Treacy will lead College Possible Washington's mission to support the college aspirations of Washington students from low-income communities

News provided by

College Possible

Dec 14, 2021, 09:15 ET

SEATTLE, Dec. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- College Possible, a national nonprofit that has worked to improve equity and access in the college admissions process for more than 20 years, today announced the appointment of Lauren Treacy as executive director of College Possible Washington.

"We are excited to welcome Lauren to our team in Washington. Her experience with an AmeriCorps organization and working in our local school systems will be invaluable as she leads College Possible Washington forward," said Norm Bontje, Advisory Board Chair, College Possible Washington. "With Lauren at the helm, I'm confident in our organization's future and trust that we will continue to effectively support our students on their journeys to and through college."

Lauren most recently served as the Interim Executive Director at City Year Seattle/King County where she continued to build strong partnerships in Seattle Public Schools and promoted a return to in-person service. She comes to College Possible Washington with more than 10 years of leadership experience within the education and nonprofit sectors. Her experience as a first-generation college graduate and an AmeriCorps Member guide her focus on college access and success.

"Creating access to higher education for students in Washington—and supporting them through college graduation is pivotal to closing the opportunity gap," said Treacy. "College Possible students are incredibly capable, and I look forward to building on a legacy of effective programming to help remove inequitable barriers to their educational success."

Lauren's in-depth experience includes strategic planning, donor cultivation, staff learning and development, race and equity programming, and building transformational partnerships. She attended Gonzaga University for her undergraduate studies and holds a M.Ed in School Counseling from Louisiana State University.

College Possible is one of the largest college access and success organizations in the country, providing one-on-one near-peer coaching to nearly 25,000 students from low-income backgrounds at 200 schools in eight major cities across the country. Since its merger with College Possible in 2019, College Possible Washington (formally College Access Now) has helped thousands of Washington students from low-income backgrounds navigate the college admissions process through the support of near-peer coaches, enabling them to successfully gain access to a college education, along with the knowledge and skills to enter into the workforce upon graduation.

About College Possible: As one of the largest and most successful college access and success programs in the country, since 2000 College Possible has helped put more than 59,000 students from disinvested communities on the path to economic mobility via completion of a college degree. Its proven near-peer coaching model, delivered by recent college graduates serving as AmeriCorps members, provides high-touch interventions proven to help students navigate and overcome the most common barriers to college access, retention and degree completion. Nationwide, College Possible students are three times more likely to earn a bachelor's degree within six years than their peers from similar backgrounds. Headquartered in Saint Paul, MN, College Possible operates: regional sites in Chicago, IL; Milwaukee, WI; Omaha, NE; Philadelphia, PA; Portland, OR; and Seattle, WA; College Forward in Austin, WA; and has Catalyze partnerships in California, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Tennessee. Learn more at CollegePossible.org.