Dr. Brad Phillips, founder and CEO of the Institute for Evidenced-Based Change, has been honored with the RP Group’s 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award for his decades-long dedication to student success in higher education.
Phillips has played a pivotal role in shaping the research and planning landscape for community colleges. As a founding Board member of the RP Group and creator of the California Partnership for Achieving Student Success (Cal-PASS), he laid the groundwork for data-sharing between K-12 schools, community colleges, and universities.
“Brad is not just an advocate for student success, he’s a catalyst for change,” Caring Campus Vice President Ken Sherwood said. “His work has transformed the student experience at over 70 community colleges in California. It’s an honor to work alongside him and support this vital mission.”
Phillips founded the Institute for Evidence-Based Change (IEBC) in 2011, and soon launched Caring Campus, a framework that equips college and university staff and faculty with actionable strategies and behavioral commitments to boost student persistence, retention, and success rates. Today, two-thirds of California’s community colleges and over 150 colleges and universities nationwide have participated in Caring Campus.
“Through Caring Campus, Brad has unlocked the potential of staff and faculty to transform the student experience,” Caring Campus Associate Vice President Dr. Bola King-Rushing said. “His devotion and passion for this work is contagious, and he continues thinking of ways to expand our offerings and support Caring Campus colleges in this vision every day.”
Beyond his leadership, Phillips has co-authored the book “Creating a Data-Informed Culture in Community Colleges,” has been a keynote speaker at major conferences, and has published numerous articles on student success and institutional effectiveness.
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