Nolvia Delgado
Kaplan Educational Foundation (KEF)
Nolvia Delgado is Executive Director of the Kaplan Educational Foundation (KEF), a 501 (c)(3) which seeks to eliminate barriers to higher education for overlooked and underserved community college students and develop them as leaders and advocates for their community. In her role, she is responsible for the strategic direction, leadership and management of KEF’s Kaplan Leadership Program, which provides a comprehensive array of financial and academic support, transfer admissions, intensive advising and leadership skills development to help talented community college students transfer to four year universities. Since its inception in 2006, the Kaplan Leadership Program has helped more than 100 Scholars gain admission to the most competitive schools in the U.S.; 92% of the Kaplan Education Foundation’s highly selective Kaplan Leadership Program graduates have earned their four-year degree.
With more than ten years of experience in creating educational access for underserved students, Nolvia is committed to the idea that education has the power to transform lives. She experienced that transformation herself as the first in her family to attend and graduate from college and is a proud alumna of the Kaplan Leadership Program. This commitment has fueled Nolvia’s work in building public-private partnerships that improve access to education for underrepresented students in the United States and abroad. Before joining KEF as Executive Director, she was director of partnerships at Cypress Hills (Brooklyn, NY) Development Corporation, the Fundraising and Charitable Partnerships Manager for Kaplan International in London, and a Community Engagement Specialist (overseeing U.S. educational pipeline programs) at global law firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP.
In 2022, Nolvia was honored with a 2022 City & State Above & Beyond: Innovators Award for New Yorkers who are disrupting the status quo and driving transformative change. In addition,
Crain's New York Business named Nolvia to its prestigious “40 Under 40” List.
Nolvia holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Smith College and AAS from Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY.
