Olivia Herriford

Regional Director, Industry Engagement
Bay Area Region

Olivia Herriford is a servant leader with a vision of diverse and truly inclusive tech work environments. Her career in tech spans over years, beginning as a pioneer with a CompSci degree in 1973, leadership roles in hardware & software businesses, a long consulting career in IT project management, organizational health & effectiveness, and diversity & inclusion. For the last decade, she has brought it all together supporting California community college career education and workforce development goals. The work began as Associate Director for the Mid-Pacific ICT Center, an NSF Regional ATE Center, 2010 – 2015, after which she joined the Career Ladders Project as a consultant facilitating the mapping of K-14 ICT/DM pathways. Most recently, she managed City College of San Francisco’s cybersecurity registered apprenticeship program. The underlying passion inspiring her work with the CCCs is getting more women, African American, and Latinx students into high-demand tech jobs.

Dr. Herriford also has experience in the classroom. She has been adjunct faculty for undergrad and graduate business programs at several local and online universities since 2002. Currently, she is contributing faculty at Walden University where she mentors doctoral students proposing and completing dissertations. This side of her career includes experience developing workshop and course curriculum and delivering workshops and courses in leadership/organizational behavior, cultural humility, and managing unconscious bias.