Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Paula Umaña is the Director of Institutional Transformation at The Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice. Prior to joining our team, she spent six years establishing and directing the Single Stop program at Community College of Philadelphia. That national anti-poverty, multi-service model to increase college student retention was demonstrably successful at boosting students’ academic success, according to a rigorous external evaluation. Paula also launched the first Hispanic Capacity Building Institute in Philadelphia, led programming for the Pennsylvania chapter of the Center for Progressive Leadership, and provided leadership and managed day-to-day operations for the Transitional Work Corporation, promoting workforce development and self-sufficiency in urban communities of Philadelphia. 

Paula holds a Master of Education degree from Temple University and is a native of Bogotá, Colombia where she obtained a Bachelor of Science degree from the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana.