John Wolfkill

John Wolfkill is Executive Director of the Community College of Aurora (CCA) Foundation. He has served in this role since 2016. CCA Foundation provides over $750,000 in scholarships to students each year. More importantly, within two years of receiving their first scholarship, 84% of students complete a credential, transfer to a four-year university, or are still enrolled at CCA.  During its quiet phase, CCAF has secured $17.1 million toward its $18 million campaign for the Center for Applied Science and Technology. 

John completed his Master of Science degree in International and Intercultural Education and Development at the University of Southern California and became keenly interested in community development. He worked as an urban planner for the Watts Labor Community Action Committee (Los Angeles, CA). Then he became the associate director of the P.F. Bresee Foundation, a faith-based youth and family development center. He spent nearly seven years as the Director of Administration and Donor Partnerships at the Tulsa Community Foundation, one of the largest community foundations in the country where he supported high-net-worth families, corporations and foundations to design, implement, and evaluate their charitable investment strategies. He also facilitated the process that led to the backbone homeless services organization, A Way Home for Tulsa. After learning that only one to two percent of Tulsa’s African American and Hispanic youth were graduating from high school prepared to begin college without remediation, he left the foundation to become executive director of KIPP Tulsa, an open-enrollment college-preparatory, public charter school from 2011-2016. At KIPP Tulsa, 90% of his students qualified for the federal free or reduced lunch program and 97% of students were African American or Hispanic. More importantly, students averaged 1.7 years of growth each year with 97% going on to graduate high school and over 80% enrolling in post-secondary education. 

John has served as a recent national chair for the CASE Community College Advancement Conference and as a frequent presenter and moderator for sessions on annual fundraising, board engagement, strategic planning, and utilizing data for impact storytelling. He is the chair of the Leadership Aurora Board of Directors and serves on the planning and facilitation committee for Emerging Leaders. He is a Rotarian and serves as a small group leader for high schoolers. Outside of work and volunteering, you will find John enjoying the Colorado life with his wife and two sons mountain biking, skiing, hiking, or playing Pickleball.