Angélica Benítez provides leadership for the TRIO programs at Rider University: Student Support Services and Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Programs. Ms. Benítez has dedicated her career to fostering higher education for under-resourced and underrepresented students, initially through the NJ Educational Opportunity Fund Program (EOP) and TRIO’s collegiate programs. Devising best-practices and impactful service through vigorous work in EOP fueled her transition to the inaugural SSS Program at Rider in 1993, further increasing support services and counseling to a growing first-generation population. Eleven years later, Ms. Benítez launched and directed the SSS project at Bloomfield College (NJ). Thereafter, Rider sought her return to establish their first McNair Scholars Program. To date, Angélica Benítez has served in TRIO for thirty years, thus cultivating access and degree attainment from the baccalaureate to the doctorate.
Having shared the narrative of a first-generation, under-resourced, immigrant college student, her professional and civic involvement reflects her passion to impact marginalized groups, minimize barriers, and champion opportunity. As such, Ms. Benítez, has been an active board member of AEEE, Inc., partaking in roles such as District Representative, Board Member at Large, NJ Policy Seminar Chair, Conference Co-Chair, and Chair of AEEE’s 40th Anniversary Celebratory Banquet. Likewise, she served in leadership roles for 17 years on the Board of the NJ Hispanic Association for Higher Education, Inc., yielding recognition by President Clinton’s Education Commission for promoting progress among NJ Latino Educators. She is also an alumna of the Hispanic Women Leadership Institute of the Rutgers Center for Strategic Urban Community Leadership. Angélica Benítez earned a Bachelor’s degree in Administration and Information Processing Systems as well as a Master’s degree in Counseling from Rider University.