Kristina Whalen

President Whalen leads with the belief that equity is the measure of excellence, not an optional element. She centers students who have been minoritized in higher education—by race, gender, income, disability, immigration status, or veteran status—and asks how institutional decisions will affect their sense of belonging, purpose, and economic mobility. Guided by principles of equity by design, she insists on clarity of goals and outcomes, disaggregated data, and practices tailored to affirm students’ lives.
President Whalen’s leadership framework is relational and narrative-driven, rooted in her background in speech communication, rhetoric, and feminist rhetorical theory. She uses storytelling and data literacy to make equity challenges visible and to inspire collective ownership of solutions among faculty, classified professionals, and students. Through regular campus messages, public forums, and initiatives like “The Way of the Owl” and her 12345 newsletter, she nurtures a culture of care and belonging that aligns daily work with Foothill’s values of inclusivity, love, and community.
Recognizing that equity work is ongoing, Dr. Whalen models continuous learning by engaging in statewide and national leadership development focused on community college excellence and student success. She is a community cultivator, working with workforce boards, industry partners, and service organizations to build deep knowledge and a solution set for the community’s most pressing challenges and needs.
Kristina’s vision is for Foothill College to be a place where students not only access higher education, but experience it as welcoming, rigorous, loving, and transformative. In sum, the institution of choice in Silicon Valley for catalyzing personal, economic, and social change. This vision is deeply personal as her own family story is testimony to the power and promise of education.