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The Spark Community Advisors: Championing Open Educational Resources in 2025
Published Date
Open Educational Resources (OER) provide equitable access to learning materials, empowering both students and educators. By reducing the financial burden of expensive textbooks, OER fosters a more inclusive educational environment. They can help ensure that all students, regardless of financial background, have access to high-quality learning resources.
The 2025 OER Michelson Spark Grants funding cycle furthers these positive impacts. It does so by supporting innovative projects that scale OER implementation, build capacity, and enhance outreach.
2025 Open Educational Resources Focus Areas
In order to drive a scalable impact within the communities we serve, the funding cycle emphasizes the following areas:
- Supporting the implementation of California’s investment in zero textbook cost (ZTC) degree programs within the California Community College (CCC) system.
- Mobilizing students and faculty to pass OER policies at the University of California (UC), CCC, and California State University (CSU) systems.
- Improving the quality and reach of OER marketing materials, particularly for under-resourced programs at institutions nationwide.
- Researching and conducting public education around automatic textbook billing, with a focus on student experience and consumer protection.
- Investigating the impacts of policies relating to textbook accessibility, OER, and textbook price transparency at the state and federal level.
Meet the Spark Community Advisors
The Michelson 20MM Foundation believes that those closest to the issues we’re working on understand a community’s needs best and are closest to the solution. With this in mind, we are proud to introduce a remarkable group of advisors whose expertise will shape strategies that promote equity, support vulnerable populations, and drive innovative approaches to improving OER.
Elaine Correa, Ph.D | Professor and Chair, California State University, Bakersfield, Department of Human Development, and Child, Adolescent, and Family Studies
Dr. Elaine Correa earned her Ph.D. in Administration and Policy Studies in Education from McGill University, Montreal, Canada. She joined California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) in Fall 2016. Dr. Correa serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Human Development, and Child, Adolescent, and Family Studies. In 2019-2020, she was Interim Associate Dean for the School of Social Sciences and Education. Dr. Correa participates in shared governance on the Academic Senate. She serves on the Academic Support and Student Services Sub-Committee.
In Fall 2023, Dr. Correa spearheaded CSUB’s first OER degree. Her department received recognition from the Chancellor’s Office as one of three CSUs to offer an OER degree program. This initiative addresses equity gaps and increases graduation rates.
Dr. Correa advocates for social justice and community engagement. Her research and work focuses on educational equity, OER/OEP, multiculturalism, feminist pedagogy, e-learning, and service learning.
Paola Santana (she/her/Ella) | Executive Director, Glendale College Foundation
Paola Santana is the Executive Director of the Glendale College Foundation. There, she builds public awareness and collaborates with a 34-member board. Together they raise funds for student scholarships, college programs, and other critical needs.
Previously, Santana served as a Strategy Officer and Grant Maker at Lumina Foundation. In her role, she supported state efforts to increase postsecondary attainment across the nation. Santana also led UNITE-LA’s college access and success portfolio for nearly a decade. She implemented direct service college access programming and developed the organization’s higher education policy advocacy agenda. Santana began her career advising the Los Angeles Unified School District Board of Education on complex policy issues.
She is a graduate of several leadership programs, including the Riordan Leadership Institute and the Pahara NextGen Network. A first-generation, community college transfer student, Santana earned her associate degree at Glendale Community College, baccalaureate degree at the UC, Berkeley, and Master’s in Higher Education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Katie Wagman (she/her) | Senior, University of California, Los Angeles
Katie Wagman is a fourth-year undergraduate at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), studying public affairs. She is a Policy Intern with EveryLife Foundation for Rare Disease and as a Housing/Communications Policy Intern at Strategic Actions for a Just Economy (SAJE).
Previously, Wagman was a Student Fellow for Michelson 20MM’s Textbook Affordability initiative. She worked to ensure students have equitable access to the course materials. She continues this work as the Director of Access and Equity for the undergraduate Academic Affairs Commission. In her role, Wagman is advancing textbook affordability through the UC system and implementing course marking and price transparency at UCLA. Nationally, she advocated for policy changes in the Department of Education.
Upon graduation, Wagman plans to work in housing or healthcare policy, with a particular interest in reproductive healthcare.
This Michelson Spark Grants funding cycle plays a crucial role in driving OER adoption. It empowers communities to overcome barriers to education through affordable learning materials. Together, we can continue creating an equitable educational landscape for students and educators alike.
About Michelson 20MM
Michelson 20MM is a private, nonprofit foundation working toward equity for underserved and historically underrepresented communities by expanding access to educational and employment opportunities, increasing affordability of educational programs, and ensuring the necessary supports are in place for individuals to thrive. To do so, we work in the following verticals: Digital Equity, Intellectual Property, Smart Justice, Student Basic Needs, and Open Educational Resources (OER). Co-chaired and funded by Alya and Gary Michelson, Michelson 20MM is part of the Michelson Philanthropies network of foundations.
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