Charlene Dukes

Charlene Mickens Dukes is President Emerita of Prince George’s Community College (PGCC) and led the college for 13 years as president and 12 years as vice president for Student Services. She also served as Interim President of Montgomery College from August 2021 to February 2022. In 2014, she was elected to the Board of Directors of the American Association of Community Colleges and served as chair in 2016. She spent seven years on the Maryland State Board of Education and was elected president from 2012-2015. Her entry to what higher education could provide to families and communities began with her Upward Bound experience at St. Francis University in Loretto, PA.

Charlene spent a portion of her career at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pittsburgh, PA as a professional in Student Affairs and the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown in admissions and financial aid. She sits on a number of non-profit boards and focuses her contributions on the educational equity space. She is a mentor with the Aspen Rising Fellows Program, teaches in the doctoral program at North Carolina State University, and consults with the Association of Community College Trustees and the American Association of Community Colleges.

Charlene is a Trustee of Excelsior College and the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh. National Skills. She holds an Ed.D and M.Ed. from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.S.Ed. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Why are you in this work?

I represent the very individuals ESG serves. Defined as low-income, historically underrepresented in higher education, and thirsting for opportunities that my parents did not have, I wanted it to be my time, our time to benefit from the largesse of this experiment known as the United States of American. It is my honor to engage in this work with ESG to continue to focus on opportunity for the human quilt that is America.

Why ESG?

I see the infinite possibilities of ESG as a leader, as a partner, and as a supporter of mission, equity, inclusion, and access.