Meet the OACC Team
Bio
Katelyn Bowling is the Senior Director of Government Relations for the Ohio Association of Community Colleges, where she leads statewide advocacy efforts on behalf of Ohio’s 22 community colleges. In this role, Katelyn works closely with college leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders to advance legislative priorities that expand access to affordable, high-quality education, enhance workforce development, and create opportunities for Ohio’s students and communities.
With over a decade of experience in government relations and public affairs, Katelyn is passionate about advancing policies that improve quality of life and strengthen Ohio’s reputation as a top destination for education, career growth, and family life. She brings a collaborative approach to her work, focusing on building partnerships across government, business, and community sectors to drive economic opportunity and empower individuals and communities.
Before joining OACC, Katelyn served as Deputy Director of External Operations at the Ohio Department of Development, where she led a diverse team across six divisions, including legislative affairs, marketing and communications, and the state’s tourism office. Working closely with Director Lydia Mihalik and the offices of Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, she played a pivotal role in shaping legislative and public affairs strategies and promoting the “Ohio, The Heart of it All” brand.
Katelyn also held various advocacy and communications roles at the Ohio Hospital Association, ultimately advancing to Director of Advocacy and Legislative Communications. There, she led statewide advocacy campaigns, developed engagement strategies, and worked with hospital leaders and policymakers to advance legislative priorities that improved healthcare delivery and supported Ohio hospital providers and patients.
A native of Dayton, Ohio, Katelyn earned her bachelor’s degree in strategic communications from Miami University. She and her husband, David, reside in Columbus with their two children, AJ and Kendall.
Bio
Anne serves as the Director of Institutional Effectiveness where she provides information and analysis in support of student success initiatives and policy formation. In addition, she works with Institutional Research staff from member colleges to help build capacity in using data-driven decision making through the sharing of information and best practices.
Prior to joining the OACC, Anne held the position of Director of Institutional Research and Effectiveness at Cincinnati State Technical and Community College for fifteen years where she found her passion, supporting the community college mission through the analysis and dissemination of information. A highlight of her career in higher education has been facilitating teams of faculty, staff and administrators from various backgrounds to understand barriers faced by students and to develop strategic solutions to improve outcomes. Anne started her professional life in the private sector in information technology in the areas of business operations and marketing research.
Anne holds a BBA from Eastern Michigan University, MBA from Thomas More College and has completed all doctoral coursework in Community College Leadership from Morgan State University.
Bio
Jones not only has an adoration for higher education, but a lifelong passion for advocacy. Her leadership and experience in supporting individuals is demonstrated through her participation in outreach programs, tutoring, not-for-profit startup, mentoring, and other professional settings.
Jones has facilitated several of Diversity sessions, such as the United Way of Clark, Champaign, and Madison Counties, the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission, Springfield Fire Division, AFP, and for Women in Business Network of Dayton, etc. She has also served as a panelist on a community-wide discussion for Leaders of Change focusing on social justice and on the Women’s Leadership Panel for Women’s History month.
Jones also has fostered a plethora of partnerships focused on workforce development. These partnerships include the following career clusters Manufacturing, Healthcare, Agriculture, Technology, Logistics, Food Service, and Insurance. These partnerships are focused on innovation, planning, financial stewardship, recruitment, talent development, and shared governance.
Her professional journey began in industry, that experience led to an adjunct position teaching in the Management and Medical Office Administration programs. After teaching part-time for less than a year, she moved into a full-time position working in both programs. Since that day, she has worked as a program coordinator, committee chair, assistant dean, college credit plus liaison, grant coordinator, advisor, as the Vice President for Marketing, Diversity, and Community Impact, and currently as the Senior Director of Workforce Partnerships at OACC and Co-Director of the OSCN.
She began her educational journey at Clark State College and earned her bachelor’s degrees in organizational leadership and human services from Urbana University. She then attained an MBA with an emphasis in Healthcare Management from American Intercontinental University and completed her Doctorate in leadership in higher education at Capella University in 2023. She is also an alumnus of the OACC Leadership Academy and Leadership Ohio.
Bio
In her role as Executive Assistant, Sam provides support to the OACC team. Sam has built her career in a variety of roles and industries, where she was not only the administrator, but technology whiz, bookkeeper and marketing guru as well. Sam has 3 children ages 16 to 22 that keep her busy outside of work. She enjoys being outside and working in the yard, as well as enjoys a catering gig shes does on weekends; watching all those lovely weddings just makes her happy.
LAURA RITTNER
Vice President of Operations and Student Success
lrittner@ohiocc.org
614-221-6222 ext. 240
Bio
Laura Rittner serves as Executive Director of the Success Center for Ohio Community Colleges at the Ohio Association of Community Colleges (OACC). In this role she oversees the OACC’s student success initiatives including Ohio’s guided pathways project for community colleges, the Student Success Leadership Institute, and the Completion by Design statewide policy and scaling work. The Student Success Center’s portfolio of grants has grown to include over $10 million in state, federal and private foundation investments under Laura’s leadership. She has engaged many national partners in the OACC’s student success efforts and served as an inaugural coach for the American Association of Community College’s Pathways Project from 2016-2017.
Laura has 14 years of experience in community college leadership. She joined the OACC in 2013 as Director of Research and Data Analysis after working for 7 years at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland, OH as Director for Institutional Research. Laura holds a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Psychology from Miami University in Oxford, OH and a Master of Public Policy from The George Washington University in Washington, DC.
GARRATT WEBER
Director of Network Engagement, Success Center
gweber@ohiocc.org
614-221-6222 ext. 270
Bio
In her role as the Director of Network Engagement, Garratt provides project management support and strategic planning for the many Success Center priority areas. Garratt leads the $1.3 million, statewide Ohio Open Ed Collaborative project, as well as the Center’s holistic student supports redesign work and the dual enrollment pathways project. Through this work, Garratt helps to inform and support the larger OACC advocacy and policy agenda to represent the needs and mission of Ohio’s 23 community colleges.
Garratt has worked in higher education since 2012, starting as an undergraduate intern for the federal TRIO Upward Bound program at Ohio University. Upon graduation, Garratt was brought on full-time as the Assistant Director of Upward Bound at Ohio University. In this role, she collaborated with 17 high schools in 9 counties of Appalachian Ohio to support college access and success for students in the region.
With her knowledge of grant management and experience in educational opportunity programming, Garratt joined the OACC team to lead the Ohio Open Ed Collaborative project in 2017. Her role was later expanded to Assistant Director in 2018.
Garratt holds a Master of Public Administration from the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs at Ohio University, as well as a Bachelor of Science in Communication Studies from Ohio University.
Bio
Avi Zaffini is President & CEO of the Ohio Association of Community Colleges, an organization dedicated to the advancement and implementation of sound policy and initiatives supporting the more than 200,000 community college students in Ohio. Rooted in the belief that every person should have access to a high-quality college education, the OACC supports the mission of the state’s 22 community colleges to provide programming in technical education, lower-division baccalaureate education, developmental education, and continuing education in our local communities.
Before assuming leadership of the OACC, Avi led business engagement and strategic initiatives at the Ohio Business Roundtable, a non-partisan organization representing the CEOs of the state’s largest corporations and employers. Prior to his work at the Business Roundtable, He spent nearly a decade in Ohio politics and state government, holding various positions in statewide campaigns and in the Ohio Secretary of State’s office. He also served as Chief of Staff for Ohio Lt. Governor Jon Husted.
Avi is a veteran of the United States Marines, and completed combat tours to Iraq in 2006 and 2009. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from The Ohio State University.
Avi lives in Delaware, Ohio with his wife, Megan, and their three children.