Ajinkya’s more than 15 years of research, policy and practitioner experience has made her a champion for improving equitable postsecondary access and degree completion for underserved students. In her role at the Institute for Higher Education Policy (IHEP), she develops the organizational advocacy agenda, evaluates institutional policies across the U.S. that influence student outcomes and works to design strategies that bring to scale effective, equitable practices. Significantly, Ajinkya has guided IHEP’s work to assess the impact of prison-based postsecondary education programs and she provides oversight to the Degrees When Due degree-reclamation initiative, among other priority areas. Ajinkya additionally serves as a visiting professor at Cornell in Washington and is a founding advisory board member of the Amherst College Loeb Center for Career Exploration and Planning. She is a widely cited education expert, having shared her work on innovative education models, support for stopped-out students and prison-based education with NBC Nightly News, NPR: Marketplace, Diverse, and the Los Angeles Times.
