Dhanfu Elston

Dhanfu E. Elston, Ph.D. (pronounced: dah-NEE-foo) has served a 28-year career in postsecondary education that spans a range of executive leadership, federal and state policy, not-for-profit operations, and academic officer positions. At Complete College America, he utilizes his national policy and campus expertise for practical application, implementation, and scaling of high impact strategies across a 53-member Alliance network of states and institutional consortia throughout the U.S. He provides oversight of national external partnerships and has led CCA’s guided pathways initiatives, Purpose First career alignment strategy, 15 To Finish national campaign, and standards to close equity and institutional performance gaps. Elston has also coordinated relationships with Governors’ Offices, higher education state-wide systems, and national partners in their college completion efforts. He launched a national initiative with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund to amplify completion efforts at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) and minority-serving institutions. Prior to joining CCA, he provided leadership to Georgia State University, which is nationally recognized as a model for collegiate academic success, as the Faculty Assistant Director for Undergraduate Studies. Dr. Elston earned a Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies from Georgia State University. He earned both an M.A. in Educational Leadership and B.S. in Biology from Clark Atlanta University.