P.R. director Martha Parham is leaving Coast Community College District

By Nicole Knight Shine

Jan. 12, 2015 2:25 PM PT

Martha Parham is leaving the Coast Community College District after nearly a decade as its director of public affairs, marketing and government relations, the district announced Friday.

“This is truly a bittersweet departure for me,” Parham said in a district announcement. Parham is relocating to Washington, D.C., to join the American Assn. of Community Colleges on March 1 as the vice president of marketing and public relations.

Her last day with Coast will be Jan. 30.

“I look forward to this new chapter of my professional journey at AACC and hope to continue to find ways to support Coast colleges and all community colleges in my new role,” Parham said. “Coast will always have a special place in my heart.”

Parham joined the district in 2002 as public information specialist and was promoted to her current position three years later. In 2004, she was recognized as the District Employee of the Year and in 2013 as the District Manager of the Year. In 2012, Parham also played a key role in winning voters’ approval of the district’s $698-million bond measure — the ninth-largest bond measure in the nation, according to a district announcement.

“Martha has done so much for this district and its students,” board President Lorraine Prinsky said in a news release. “This is a huge loss for Coast, but also a tremendous gain as I am proud to know that one of our very own will be advocating for community colleges all across the nation.”

Parham, a Lake Forest resident, serves on the board of directors of the Assn. of California Community College Administrators, the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations, the Orange County Legislative Task Force, and the Costa Mesa Chamber of Commerce. She is former president of the California Community College Public Relations Organization, which recognized her with its All-Pro Award.

Parham holds a doctorate in higher education from Cal State Long Beach and a master’s in English from National University in Costa Mesa.