Grace Bagunu is a community leader, educator, coach and consultant. Grace currently serves as a Program Manager in the City of San Diego. Prior to this role, Grace served as the Assistant Dean of Student Affairs at Revelle College at UC San Diego. Grace has worked with UCSD Extension to provide leadership development training to high school and college students as well as community organizations around the greater San Diego community. Grace was one of three co-founders of Social Kitchen, a 2016 USD Social Innovation Challenge winner. Grace has also worked in areas such as student activities, student governance, test prep, design thinking, strategic planning, and organizational consulting.

Grace earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with a minor in Family Studies and her Master of Arts degree in Educational Administration with an emphasis in Higher Education from the University of Missouri – Kansas City. Grace completed her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Leadership Studies at the University of San Diego. Grace’s dissertation is titled Career decision-making of higher education professionals of Philippine descent: The untold stories of an Asian Pacific Islander community. 

Grace is a member of the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE). Grace also sits on the Board of Grex, the West Coast affiliate of the A.K. Rice Institute, as a Member-at-Large. Grace is an active member of Group Relations International and continues to engage in group relations conferences on an annual basis. Grace has served on regional and national boards and committees through NASPA Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education. Grace has co-authored two chapters in the NASPA monograph Beginning Your Journey on social media and professional networking. Grace served as a NUFP (NASPA Undergraduate Fellows Program) mentor.

Lastly, to inspire and get the creative sparks flying, Grace has been working on her art and growing her craft. You can check out Grace’s artist page on Instagram @cuttingsedgeart.  Grace creates inspired art through several art mediums, including but not limited to gem stones, painting, upcycling Comic Con bags, and succulents. Each art piece is hand-made and one-of-a kind because inspiration – like lightning – never strikes the same way twice!