October 2, 2008

CONTACT: Kimberly Gormley, Director, Marketing & Communications, Ohio College Access Network

Email: Gormleyk@ohiocan.org; Office: 614.947.3504; Mobile: 614.668.2954

Ohio College Access Network Hires AmeriCorps Director

Columbus, Ohio - The Ohio College Access Network (OCAN) announces this week that Bridget McFadden has been selected as the AmeriCorps Director for the Network. In this role, she will manage the College Access Corps project and research concepts for setting up the initiative at both the planning and implementation levels.

While Ms. McFadden leads the creation and expansion of the College Access Corps, a program that will recruit and train recent college graduates to advise high schools students on how to access education beyond high school,  she will also keep all OCAN members updated on the progress of activities associated with the AmeriCorps Planning Grant. She will be working closely with The Ohio State University Economic Access Initiative, Cleveland Scholarship Programs and Cincinnati Youth Collaborative as partner programs in the pilot communities to develop a well-thought-out model that can be replicated throughout Ohio.

Most recently, McFadden served as the Project Manager for the National College Access Network, researching characteristics of new college access sites across the United States, coordinating follow-up visits to communities and assisting in the planning strategies for new programs. She built from the ground up and served as the manager of (i)Cleveland, a program formerly operated by Cleveland Scholarship Programs (CSP), that is designed to substantiate a talent-rich region that helps achieve economic growth in northeast Ohio. Before working at (i)Cleveland, Ms. McFadden was an executive recruiter with Action Management Services. She also worked in Human Resources at International Management Group (IMG), where she helped to further develop their North American Summer Internship Program.

"Ms. McFadden will add much value to the OCAN team by bringing a array of expertise and professionalism in our field. Her arrival on staff is timely because OCAN is now working to create opportunities for recent college graduates as well as increase the number of internships available to students currently enrolled in postsecondary institutions," said Dr. Reginald A. Wilkinson, OCAN President and CEO.

The Ohio College Access Network (OCAN) was founded in 1999, by KnowledgeWorks Foundation, in collaboration with the Ohio Board of Regents, the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Business Roundtable. OCAN works to establish college access programs across the state and is the first statewide coordinating body for college access programs in the nation. The goal of the organization is to help more Ohio students pursue postsecondary education through the work of local college access programs, which provide financial aid advising, last dollar grants, career guidance, and other services.  Currently, 36 college access programs serve nearly 200 of Ohio's 612 school districts, and 17 private/parochial schools in 46 counties touching nearly 175,000 students annually.  For more information visit: www.ohiocan.org.