Leadership

Christine Johnson, PhD

Chancellor - Community Colleges of Spokane

Community Colleges of Spokane (CCS) Chancellor Christine Johnson is charged with leading a complex district that spans six counties over a 12,300 square mile area. It includes Spokane Falls Community College and Spokane Community College, as well as rural learning centers, Head Start/Early Learning centers and more than 2,300 employees.

Dr. Johnson serves on the Washington STEM Board of Directors and is a Washington STEM Alliance governor’s appointee. She is on the Greater Spokane Inc. (GSI) Executive Committee, Gonzaga University Board of Trustees, Eastern Washington University Advisory Council and Washington State University Medical School President’s Advisory Council.

At the national level, Dr. Johnson’s service includes the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Board of Directors, Achieving the Dream (AtD), Viridis Educational Advisory Council,  Western Governors University Academic Affairs Council, Completion Arch Presidents’ Advisory Council, American Association of Community College’s 21^st Century Commission on the Future of Community Colleges and 21^st Century Initiative – Implementation Team: Community College/K-12 Collaboration for College Readiness and CAEL.

Dr. Johnson has built strong business partnerships as STEM co-chair for Greater Spokane Incorporated (GSI), as a member of the Governor’s State of Washington STEM Innovation Alliance, the cochairperson of AirSpokane.

Prior to joining CCS in 2010, Dr. Johnson’s career included more than 30 years of teaching, administration, leadership and policy development. Beginning as a high school teacher, she went on to be a nationally recognized urban high school principal, the executive director of K-12 education for Littleton Public Schools, CO., and was recognized as Colorado Principal of the Year in 1986. She was the director of urban initiatives for the Education Commission of the States and special assistant to the provost at University of Colorado Denver, chief academic officer for Colorado Community College System and president of Community College of Denver.

Dr. Johnson earned a doctorate in educational administration and supervision and master’s degree in curriculum administration from the University of Colorado Boulder, and bachelor’s in secondary education from New Mexico State University, Las Cruces.

Kevin Brockbank, EdD

President - Spokane Community College

Brockbank joined Community Colleges of Spokane in 2015 as vice provost of strategic initiatives in the district office.

In his vice provost role, Brockbank successfully led major projects and initiatives including developing a new partnership with the Spokane business community to educate adult learners in the workforce, expanding the global education program, organizing significant international delegation visits and traveling to India to build new partnerships.

Prior to joining CCS, Brockbank worked as dean of the School of Applied Technologies and Professional Development at Salt Lake Community College in Utah.  The school consists of three divisions serving about 10,000 students annually.

He also worked in leadership roles at Missoula College, a two-year college with the University of Montana, and at Helena College with the University of Montana.

In 2017, he completed his doctorate in educational leadership through the University of Montana, where he also earned his master’s degree in education-curriculum studies and his bachelor’s degree in business and information technology education.

Brockbank served as acting president of SCC for a year before being named to the job in 2018. 

Kimberlee Messina, Ed.D.

President - Spokane Falls Community College

Kimberlee Messina joined Spokane Falls Community College as the college president on June 1, 2019. Dr. Messina brings nearly 30 years’ experience working in the California Community College system. She began her career as an adjunct and tenured faculty member before transitioning to the Dean of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics at Santa Rosa Junior College. Dr. Messina served as the Vice President of Instruction and Institutional Research at Foothill College for four years and as Interim President for one year, followed by two years as the Interim Vice Chancellor of Educational Services and Planning for the San Mateo County Community College District.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a master’s degree in Spanish from California State University, Sacramento, and a doctoral degree in educational leadership from the University of California, Davis.