Maricopa Community Colleges Named America’s Top Community College for Women to Work by Forbes

Friday, August 26, 2022
Green text that reads Ranked as a Best Employer for Women over a dark blue background

The Maricopa County Community College District (MCCCD), with ten individually accredited colleges throughout the Greater Phoenix area, has been ranked the number one community college in the nation for women to work in this year’s America’s Best Employers For Women list published by Forbes.

Additionally, out of 400 American companies included in the list, MCCCD has ranked fifth out of Higher Education Institutions following Loyola University Chicago (No. 1), Southern New Hampshire University (No. 2), University of South Florida (No. 3) and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) (No. 4).

“As one of the nation’s largest community college systems, we are more than just an equal opportunity employer,” said MCCCD Interim Chancellor Dr. Steven R. Gonzales. “Rather we strive to hire and foster a diverse workforce capable of working collectively and responsibly to meet the lifelong learning needs of our diverse students and communities.”

Currently women make up 58.28% percent of the MCCCD workforce, 58.23% are women in positions of leadership, and six of the seven MCCCD elected Governing Board members are women. MCCCD also offers the Linda B. Rosenthal Women’s Mentor Program which provides continuous development of an active and supportive work environment for the diverse women of the Maricopa Community Colleges. The free employee mentorship program creates opportunities for women to focus on their professional development goals, develop new leadership skills, and learn from college presidents, vice chancellors and other System leaders who share their experience, professional paths, and vision.

“Within our System we provide various resources for our female employee population as their situations and needs change,” said Dr. Georgetta Kelly, MCCCD’s Chief Human Resources Officer. “By creating a workplace supportive of each of our diverse team members in various life stages, we’re able to uphold our mission and values as a leader in higher education.

This year’s ranking by Forbes was compiled through a survey of 50,000 Americans — 30,000 women and 20,000 men — working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees. 

“As we look ahead to the future and the possibility of offering four-year, accredited bachelor’s degree programs, MCCCD will continue to seek avenues that cultivate a diverse, high-achieving, and an inclusive workforce capable of exceeding our students’ and communities’ needs,” added MCCCD Governing Board President Marie Sullivan. “At MCCCD, we take pride in not only the diversity of our student population, but our faculty and staff who continue exceeding expectations and attribute to MCCCD’s success across all our campuses.  We are honored by this distinction and hope it serves as a model for others to replicate around the Country. ”

Visit https://www.maricopa.edu/careers to learn more about joining the thriving Maricopa Community Colleges’ system.