Dr. Byron D. Clift Breland

Chancellor of the North Orange County Community College District

Dr. Byron D. Clift Breland has more than 25 years of administrative and teaching experience in higher education and currently serves as Chancellor of the North Orange County Community College District – one of the largest community college Districts in the state of California, serving more than fifty-seven thousand students and employing over 3,200 staff. Dr. Clift Breland was the former chancellor for the San Jose – Evergreen Community College District (SJECCD) and served in that position for 4 years. In that role, he worked to develop innovative partnerships that provide meaningful educational and job training experiences for the diverse student populations of San Jose City College, Evergreen Valley College, the Community College Extension Center in Milpitas, and the Center for Economic Mobility, located in downtown San Jose.

Prior to being promoted to the SJECCD Chancellor position, Dr. Clift Breland served for four and a half years as the President of San Jose City College (SJCC), where under his leadership, SJCC became positioned among the top institutions in the nation in career education and workforce preparation. In addition, Dr. Clift Breland has overseen the opening of a college extension center in the city of Milpitas with a focus on dual enrollment for high school students. He was also instrumental in assisting with launching the City of San José Promise, which provides up to two years of cost-free education and breaks down financial barriers for students in San Jose. Also, under Dr. Clift Breland’s leadership, both San Jose City and Evergreen Valley Colleges were recognized by the State as top transfer institutions when it comes to transferring African American and LatinX students to four-year institutions. The District also renewed it’s accreditation status, and refinanced over 400 million dollars in bonds, saving taxpayers over 6 million dollars in taxes, and fees, and reaffirmed it’s A++ credit rating while Dr. Clift Breland was Chancellor. In the one-hundred-year history of the San Jose – Evergreen Community College District, Dr. Clift Breland was the district’s first African American chancellor.

Previously, Dr. Clift Breland served as Associate Vice President/Provost at Long Beach City College’s Pacific Coast Campus; Associate Dean of Student Development at Santa Ana College; and Assistant Dean, Director of Judicial Affairs at the University of California, Irvine, serving both the undergraduate and medical school campuses. In addition, he has held administrative positions at University of Southern California and University of Maryland at College Park.

Dr. Clift Breland currently serves on numerous boards, councils and commissions, including: National Advisory Board for the Steve Fund; Affordability, Food and Housing Taskforce; Community College Council on Mental Health; Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities Commission on International Education; and the African-American Male Education Network and Development (A2MEND). Dr. Clift Breland was a former member of the Mayor’s Silicon Valley Recovery Roundtable; the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Silicon Valley Leadership Group.

In 2021, Dr. Clift Breland was elected by his peers to serve as the Chair of the Board of Directors for the Community College League of California (CCLC), and as the President of the Chief Executive Officers of the California Community Colleges Board. In this position, Dr. Clift Breland worked with the CA Community College League and the CA Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office to transform the lives of our diverse students and strengthen communities statewide through advocacy, leadership development, district services, coalition building, and policy advancement during a uniquely challenging time as the CA community college system worked hard to return students to the classrooms and campuses during the pandemic.

Currently, Dr. Clift Breland is the CEO Chair for the following Orange County taskforces; OC Community Colleges Legislative Task Force and the OC Regional Consortium: Workforce Development Alliance.

Dr. Clift Breland earned a BS in consumer economics and an MS in family studies from the University of Maryland, College Park, and an MS in education and a Ph.D. in counseling psychology from the University of Southern California.