Jennifer Godinez is executive director of Minnesota College Access Network (MCAN), and associate director of Minnesota Minority Partnership, Inc. (MMEP). She has in-depth experience in youth development, college access program development, and education policy development.

Jennifer was instrumental in the organizational development of the youth-serving organization, La Escuelita, where she served as executive director from 1999 to 2004. During her tenure, the organization was recognized by groups such as MOAPPP and the National Association of Bilingual Educators for an exemplary after-school model serving Latino youth in Minneapolis. In 2004, she was appointed to serve as a Commissioner for the Minnesota Out-of-School Time Commission and currently serves on the Advisory Council for the new Dean of the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Minnesota.  She co-chairs the “College Access Working Group” on the Minnesota P-16 Education Council. 

Jennifer has served as a board member for various educational entities including: El Colegio Charter School, the Latino Scholarship Fund of Minnesota, and Achieve! Minneapolis.  At the national level, she served on the Excelencia en Educacion “Promising Practices” Committee for 2007 and will serve as an advisor at the “Latino Drop-Out” Symposium held by Arizona State University. 

She received her bachelor’s degree at Drake University, was trained in Sociology and Cultural Anthropology in Oaxaca, Mexico, and received her master of public administration degree in Public Policy from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs with concentrations in education policy and nonprofit management.