Executive Team糖心vlog

DR. JULIUS O. SOKENU (He/Him/His)
President, Moorpark College

is the President of Moorpark College; he has served the students and Moorpark College family for over 17 years. Prior to his current assignment, he was Vice President of Academic Affairs and Executive Vice President and before that Dean of Student Learning. He is committed to student access and success; his professional work has focused on developing career programs to prepare students for high skill, high wage, high demand employment. He was the president of the California Community College Association of Occupational Education. He holds a doctorate in education with an emphasis in Curriculum and Teaching from Boston University, a Masters of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Arizona State University and Bachelor degrees in Business and English from the University of Southern California. Dr. Sokenu is a published poet and writer. His poems have appeared in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Nimrod: The International Journal of Prose and Poetry, Savannah Literary Review, and his essays on teaching and learning in The Community College Journal. He has also written editorial as a guest writer in many of the local papers and other publications. 

Dr. John Forbes joined the Moorpark Community College team in June 2022. Prior to Moorpark, John served Clovis Community College in Fresno, CA as Dean of Instruction, STEM and Distance Education. His 22-year career in education is filled with roles supporting teams of educators focused on innovative ways to improve student outcomes – including extensive work in some of our country’s most diverse neighborhoods.

John began his career in education in Indiana as a physics, mathematics, and computer science instructor. He moved to Fresno in 1998, serving in Fresno Unified School District as a teacher, technology coordinator, research administrator, vice-principal, dean, and high school principal (Fresno High School).

In 2016, John joined the team at Clovis Community College where he served as Dean of Instruction for STEM, Technology Services, and Distance Education. He spent part of the 2020-21 academic year as the interim Chief Technology Officer for State Center Community College District, before returning to Clovis and his passion for directly supporting instruction.

John holds a bachelor’s degree in physics and math, a master’s degree in Administration from California State University, Fresno, and a doctorate in Educational Leadership from the UC-Davis/CSU-Fresno Joint Doctoral Program. He lives with his wife, Brenda, of 23 years and two college-age sons, Benjamin (20) and Jeffrey (18). 

Dr. Jennifer J. Clark has been Vice President of Business Services at Moorpark College since February 2020. Prior to Moorpark, she was the Budget Director for the Ventura County Community College District, responsible for preparing the budget documents and conducting the analysis for the VCCCD budget. She also served at Oxnard College as the College Fiscal Services Supervisor for nearly five years.

Dr. Clark has experience in K-12 leadership. She was the Director of Budget and Education Technology at the Pleasant Valley School District for more than a decade. She started her career in education as a fourth grade teacher of English Language Learner clusters in the Burbank Unified School District and has experience and a passion for teaching in English-Spanish dual emersion programs. She also served as a Technology Coordinator in Burbank and in the San Marino Unified School Districts.

Jennifer holds a doctorate in Education Technology from Pepperdine University, an MBA from California State University, Channel Islands, a Master’s degree in Education from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a bachelor’s degree in English and American Literature from the University of California, San Diego. She lives with her husband, Jim, of 28 years and two college-age sons, Jason (18) and William (18) who are both currently proud Moorpark College students.

Mostafa Ghous
Vice President of Student Support

With over 31 years of enriching experience in higher education, Mostafa emerges as a beacon of transformative leadership. As the Dean of Academic Affairs at Hartnell College, his visionary guidance shaped the educational landscape. He provided leadership for all student services and instruction for the newly expanded King City Education Center, the new Soledad Education Center, the Teacher Pathway Program, Continuing Education, ESL, Salinas Valley Adult Education Consortium, Rising Scholars, online learning, and non-credit and credit transferable classes. At the heart of his tenure lies a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion igniting a fervent campaign for social and restorative justice. He has experience working with many student services areas such as MESA, EOP&S, CalWORKs, CARE, international students, Veterans, outreach and recruitment, behavioral intervention, student conduct, accessibility, counseling, admissions and records.

His illustrious career spans from leading student equity and achievement planning at Berkeley City College as the director of campus life, to pioneering initiatives for marginalized communities at Solano College as the director of MESA, student development and health center. Mostafa's impact resonated in Everett Community College, where his diversity, equity, and inclusion initiative reverberated through the corridors of academia, fostering collaboration and empowerment. He led an anti-racist community response plan and social justice taskforce with a collaborative team of faculty, staff, and community leaders. He led Strategic Enrollment Management plans to increase underrepresented student enrollment.

Mostafa's philanthropic endeavors has raised over $15 million in alternative funding to support students. His journey from refugee and immigrant roots to academic eminence serves as an inspiring narrative, fueling his passion to pave avenues of success for generations to come. Mostafa is a first-generation college graduate and earned his AA and AS from Modesto Junior College, BS from UC Santa Cruz, MA in Educational Leadership with an emphasis in Student Affairs from University of the Pacific in Stockton, and he will earn his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership from CSU Fresno.

Deborah (Debi) Klein is delighted to join the Moorpark College and Foundation as Director of Institutional Advancement and Community Relations, and Chief Development Officer of the Foundation. Debi has over 26 years of development experience and is responsible for such iconic projects as the new Paul Merage School of Business building at UCI, the new hospital at St. John's Pleasant Valley and the new NICU and Cancer Center at St. John's Regional Medical Center.  Debi is looking forward to working with our community to support new and exciting projects at Moorpark College and enhancing existing programs and student support. 

Debi is a native Californian – “a second-generation Los Angelino!”  She has a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a Masters from Hebrew Union College.  Debi is passionate about higher education and providing opportunities for members of our community, both young and “seasoned,” to embark on the path of life-long learning.