Victor Garcia joined The James Irvine Foundation as a Program Officer with the Priority Communities initiative in March 2022. Victor has more than 20 years of experience in program strategy development and implementation as well as grantmaking for college access and success programs across California. Throughout his career, he has led projects and initiatives to facilitate access to greater life opportunities for first-generation college students, immigrants, and individuals in low-income, rural communities. He has also worked to increase the strategic capacity of nonprofits to better serve diverse populations.

Before joining the Foundation, Victor served as Director of the California Campus Catalyst Fund, a four-year, $14 million grant and technical assistance initiative housed at Immigrants Rising. In that role, Victor led grantmaking to 32 campuses across each of the public higher education segments in California in support of their services for undocumented students and families.

Earlier in his career, Victor was Program Officer at College Futures Foundation (then College Access Foundation of California), where he managed that foundation’s Strategic Scholarships portfolio. Victor has also consulted on various foundation and nonprofit projects in Northern California and Oregon.

Victor holds an Ed.D. from the University of Southern California, a Master of Public Administration from CSU Long Beach, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in History from the University of California, Santa Cruz. He serves as an advisor for the Northern California Fulbright Visiting Scholars Program and is a board member for Oasis Legal Services, a provider of legal services for LGBTQIA+ asylum seekers.