LBUSD: College Promise Names Interim Director

Press release from the Long Beach Unified School District:

July 27, 2021

The Long Beach College Promise has appointed longtime Long Beach resident Elijah Sims as Interim Director. The Promise is the nation's leading example of seamless education from high school, free community college tuition and guaranteed transfer to the local university.

The newly created position will help strengthen the partnership among the five Promise institutions to help streamline and improve the experience of students, address equity gaps by focusing on the most vulnerable and underserved students, and build on work aimed at helping students transition from the Long Beach Unified School District to Long Beach City College and then to Cal State Long Beach.

Beyond working on the educational pathway, Sims will work with the City and the Port to enhance opportunities for Promise participants, such as supporting efforts to develop internships and jobs for Promise students.

Sims joined LBCC in 2012 as an adjunct faculty member in Counseling and has worked with Promise students for the last five years as a counselor and coordinator. He spent a majority of his K-12 education with LBUSD schools, and he graduated from Millikan High School. He then graduated from CSULB with a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy, and received his master’s degree in Education from CSU Dominguez Hills. He is currently working on his Education Doctorate Degree at CSULB.

“With this exciting appointment, The Promise enters an important new phase. We’ve renewed our collective commitment to excellence and equity,” LBUSD Superintendent Jill A. Baker said. “We extend a warm welcome to Mr. Sims and pledge the full support of our pre-K-12 schools as we build on our enduring, nationally recognized Promise partnerships.”

“Elijah is uniquely qualified to fill this new role because he has walked the walk through all three institutions as a student himself,” said Long Beach Community College District Interim Superintendent-President Dr. Mike Muñoz. “Working closely with him in these last three years, I can’t think of a better person to help take the Long Beach College Promise to the next level for our students.”

“Elijah is accomplished, remarkably talented and particularly well-suited for this position,” said CSULB President Jane Close Conoley. “The Long Beach College Promise serves Long Beach students, from kindergarten through CSULB, and Elijah has a unique perspective as someone who has been involved with – in one way or another – every Promise educational partner. He spent his K-12 years in LBUSD; worked at LBCC as an assistant professor, counselor and coordinator; and is an alumnus and current doctoral student at CSULB. Few people, if any, have a resume that is so personally tied to the Long Beach College Promise. I look forward to working closely with him as he builds on the success of the program.”

“The Long Beach College Promise has had such an incredible impact on our community, and I couldn’t be happier to welcome and congratulate Elijah Sims on taking on this new role,” said Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia. “I look forward to his leadership of this amazing partnership between our educational institutions, the City and our Port.”

“This is a significant step forward for the program as the College Promise continues to flourish and provide even more opportunity for our students,” said Port of Long Beach Executive Director Mario Cordero. “As a proven leader, educator and a local resident, Mr. Sims is extremely well suited to take the helm of the program, and continue to steer toward a brighter future for the students, families and institutions who are part of the Long Beach College Promise.”

For more information on the Long Beach College Promise, visit www.longbeachcollegepromise.org.

This press release was produced by the Long Beach Unified School District. The views expressed here are the author’s own.