San Diego City College Transfer Center Coordinator Dr. Erin Charlens doesn’t mince words when reflecting on her career as a counselor, professor and – for 17 years – Umoja Program Coordinator. “It’s been the privilege of a lifetime,” she said. “I cannot believe I’ve had the opportunity to work so closely with so many amazing students. I don’t know if I’d be who I am if it weren’t for the students I’ve had the honor of working with for such a long part of my life.”

The feeling is mutual and is the reason Dr. Charlens in January was honored by the African American Community College Trustees and Administrators at its Annual Leadership Awards Ceremony  in Sacramento as a finalist for its 2025 Black Educator Excellence Awards in the category of full-time counseling faculty of the year.

“When it comes to Black student success, we’ve done a lot and accomplished a lot here at City,” said Dr. Charlens. “People come to work here because of the love, care and compassion they have for our students, and they understand what the work entails.”

For nearly a generation, her work entailed leading the Umoja program, a program that has allowed her and others to impact hundreds of Black and African American students and who have, in turn, impacted her.

“Somebody not long ago said that our students are the elders in their own way. They’ve experienced things I’ve never seen and have never known. When you understand and appreciate that, you have to step back and let their brilliance shine. They are all leaders, we’re just trying to bring that leadership out of them.

“What I’m teaching is what they’re teaching me. My students have made me better.”

A product of the East Bay city of Fremont, Dr. Charlens was the first in her family to enroll in college when she attended Chabot College in nearby Hayward. At Chabot, she enrolled in the Daraja Program, a precursor to Umoja, which has helped thousands of educationally disadvantaged students throughout the state graduate and transfer to four-year colleges and universities through mentorships, community, support services and curriculum focused on African American history, literature and culture.

She would go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology from San Francisco State University and land good-paying jobs as a human relations professional, including a post with the Charles Schwab multinational financial services company. The pay was impressive. But something was missing.

“Somewhere along the way, I had a sort of shift in values,” she said. “I knew I wanted to do something with psychology, but I wasn’t sure what.” Dr. Charlens discovered her calling during a corporate downsizing. She left Schwab to complete a master’s degree in applied psychology with a concentration in counseling and landed a post as in 2003 teaching human development at the College of the Sequoias. She arrived at City a few years later.

After 17 years heading City’s Umoja Community Program, Dr. Charlens last summer took on a new role coordinating the Transfer Center. But the work really hasn’t changed. “We’re connecting students with resources and building a transfer culture and a transfer-going community. The work remains social justice-oriented; I’m looking at the transfer world with a deep equity lens.”