Dr. KIM POAST

Principal Consultant at KP Solutions, LLC

Dr. Kim Poast, recently retired from serving as the Chief Student Success & Academic Affairs

Officer for the Colorado Department of Higher Education, where she led statewide academic

and student affairs policy in Colorado’s higher education ecosystem- and was strategically

focused on equitable transfer, prior learning assessment, non-degree credentials, student

advising, wraparound support programs and educational innovation. She has over 35 years’

experience as a practitioner and policy maker in higher education and K12 and non-profit

administration. In her spare time, she is an associate professor at the University of Colorado at

Denver teaching higher education policy and governance.

She has previously served as the Executive Director of College and Career Readiness at

Denver Public Schools, working to ensure that all students are ready for the next step after high

school. Previously, she served the Community College of Denver as Dean of Students and Vice

President/Executive Director of Institutional Advancement. Before that, she was Deputy Director

for DHE, overseeing the strategic planning that led up to the Master Plan process and providing

overall leadership for student services and for statewide outreach divisions and activities.

Dr. Poast earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and master’s degree in counseling

psychology from California Lutheran University and Ph.D. in Higher Education, Student Affairs

Leadership from the University of Northern Colorado.