Dr. Melinda Karp, Phase Two’s founder and project lead, has extensive research and thought-partnership experience in the areas of college access, student support, and completion strategies. She is a nationally-known expert on community colleges and strategies to support low-income, first-generation, minoritized, and otherwise under-served students in and out of the classroom. Dr. Karp has authored or co-authored over 70 articles, book chapters, and working papers and 35 practitioner-focused blogs, op-eds, and practical toolkits. She served as panel chair for the Institute for Education Science’s What Works Clearinghouse Practice Guide on Effective Advising for Postsecondary Students and a reviewer for the U.S. Department of Education’s 2024 Postsecondary Success Recognition Program. She is also a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Postsecondary Student Success and a coach for the NCII Rural Guided Pathways Project.  

Dr. Suzanne Lyons is a senior consultant with Phase Two Advisory, supporting their national research and practitioner learning networks related to college access, success, and holistic student support. In addition, she is an educator and systems-level social worker, with over 20 years of experience working in K-12, public and private colleges, and national non-profits, including work with The Posse Foundation, TRIO, and Promise programs. As a first-generation, low-income college graduate, Dr. Lyons has dedicated her career to focusing on policies, programs, and multi-sector partnerships across the K-20 pipeline that support college access and success. Among other publications, Dr. Lyons is co-author (with Dr. Karp) on a chapter in the Routledge Handbook on Higher Education, “Advising the whole student: Current approaches to integrating academic, career, and personal support.”  Prior to joining Phase Two, she led private and federal grants geared toward systems-level change to improve student outcomes in high schools and at Hispanic-serving community colleges. Dr. Lyons holds her Bachelor’s in Psychology & Spanish from the University of Notre Dame, her Master’s in Social Workfrom the University of Pennsylvania, and her Ph.D. in Higher & Postsecondary Education from NYU's Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development.

Dr. Gigi Secuban serves as the vice president for inclusive excellence and belonging at Montgomery College in Rockville, Maryland. She brings more than 25 years of higher education experience, including inaugural vice president roles for inclusive excellence at Texas State University and Ohio University. Previously, Secuban held leadership positions at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, where she oversaw the renovation of the Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center, and at the University of Arkansas, where she served as senior associate director for the freshman engineering program, director of the multicultural center, director of student affairs and diversity services in the College of Education and Health Professions, as well as an assistant director of undergraduate admissions. Her work centers on advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB); promoting student success; and fostering campus environments where all individuals are valued, supported, and heard. She has led initiatives focused on cultural and resource centers, inclusive excellence planning, DEIB fundraising and branding, and campus climate assessment. Secuban earned her Doctor of Education in higher education administration, Master of Science in health science, and Bachelor of Arts in psychology—all from the University of Arkansas. A proud 32-year member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., she is a charter member of the Phi Alpha Omega Chapter in Northwest Arkansas.

Dr. C. Spencer Platt is an associate professor of higher education administration at the University of South Carolina. He directs the Community College Leadership Alliance and previously led the university’s Center for Innovation in Higher Education. With more than 20 years of experience in student affairs, community engagement, diversity and equity, and academic affairs, Platt’s research focuses on access and excellence in education, particularly the experiences of underrepresented students, faculty, and staff at predominantly White institutions. He has secured over one million dollars in extramural funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. His publications include articles in numerous peer-reviewed journals and three books: Multiculturalism in Higher Education: Increasing Access and Improving Equity in the 21st Century (Information Age, 2020); Comprehensive Multicultural Education in the 21st Century: Increasing Access in the Age of Retrenchment (Information Age, 2019); and From Boyhood to Manhood: Deconstructing Black Masculinity Through a Lifespan Continuum (Peter Lang, 2015). Platt regularly presents at national and international conferences, including AERA, ASHE, the International Conference on Doctoral Education, and the International Colloquium on Black Males in Education. He earned a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, an MS from the University of Dayton, and a BA from the University of South Carolina.

Darryl B. Holloman, PhD, serves as vice president for student affairs at Spelman College. He previously held leadership roles as associate vice president for student affairs and dean of students at Georgia State University and as assistant vice president for student life at Columbus State University. With more than 30 years of experience in higher education, Holloman’s career spans a broad portfolio encompassing student affairs administration, institutional governance, and faculty engagement. He has held faculty appointments at Rutgers University–Newark, the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Columbus State University, and Georgia State University. Holloman is a published scholar with numerous articles and book chapters to his credit. His research explores how educational environments are shaped by cultural identity and difference. A frequent conference contributor, he has presented more than 80 research papers at national and international meetings, including those of NASPA–Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, the Association for the Study of Higher Education (ASHE), the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Divisions F and J, the Association of College Unions International, NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising, ACPA–College Student Educators International, and the Coalition of Urban and Metropolitan Universities.