Precious Mines, M. Div., B.A. is a strong proponent for education and has committed her life to giving back to her community by building a career in education to help low-income students acquire the tools necessary to successfully navigate higher education and obtain a college degree. Since matriculating into the higher-ed landscape, Precious has worked at the Community College of Philadelphia, where she served as the inaugural program coordinator for the ACE+ (Ace Plus) program, a dual enrollment program designed for youth attending alternative schools who were notoriously marginalized, providing an opportunity for them to redeem time and college credits while pursuing a high school diploma.
Precious joined College Possible Philadelphia in 2016 as the program manager and later as senior program director. Her commitment to building a program that was efficient, outcome-producing, creative, and met the unique needs of the students served has been evident through the many initiatives her team trailblazed and the consistently high outcomes of students matriculating to and through college. Precious has been able to exercise her passion for building strong relationships with key stakeholders as well as advocating for the needs of students to colleges and universities. Additionally, Precious served on the #ReachHigherPhilly team for four years, in which she was an integral part of planning Philadelphia’s College Signing Day, landing the former first lady Michelle Obama as a keynote speaker and she has been called on to bring her voice to the table, sharing her knowledge with the Philadelphia Prep Roundtable, Sara Goldrick-Rab’s #RealCollege conference, and the statewide PACAC conference.
Precious has been working in the education sector for over 20 years and has most recently been promoted to the role of executive director of College Possible Philadelphia. She is a visionary and shares an affinity to her work at College Possible as a first-generation college student herself. Precious’ strategic leadership in fortifying the next generation of leaders and equipping low-income students to achieve their educational goals will continue to result in more students being empowered to steer their future in a way that will break generational cycles of poverty and allow students to achieve their greatest desires. Precious is looking forward to leading College Possible Philadelphia into the future and expanding the reach of their programming to the students who need it the most.
