Mercedes Yanez is the dean of Academic and Student Affairs in the Los Angeles Community College District.
Mercy currently serves as the dean of Academic and Student Affairs at Los Angeles Harbor College, where she oversees a range of programs and services aimed at advancing equity, access, and student success. Her leadership oversight includes Adult Education, Community Services, and the Rising Scholars Program for justice-impacted students. She also supervises key areas of student and employee compliance, including ADA coordination, Student Grievances, Disabled Student Services Programs, Student Basic Needs Services, and Instructional Program Areas. Across all of these responsibilities, her work is rooted in social justice, holistic student support, and culturally responsive leadership.
Mercy chose LMU’s Ed.D. program because it aligned with her personal and professional values. Its strong commitment to equity, culturally responsive curriculum, and supportive cohort model created a space where she could grow as both a leader and scholar. The program’s embedded dissertation supports offered a clear and empowering path to completing her research. As a first-generation college graduate and Latina higher education leader, she sought a program that would challenge her intellectually while affirming her lived experiences—and LMU provided exactly that, fostering both academic rigor and personal transformation.
Mercy’s dissertation, Midlevel Leadership in Community Colleges: The Latina Deans of Student Affairs’ Lived Experience to Advance Career and Equity, uses a phenomenological methodology to examine the lived experiences of Latina midlevel administrators across California’s community colleges. The study highlights how these leaders draw on cultural wealth—including aspirational, familial, navigational, and resistant capital—to navigate systemic barriers and lead equity-driven change. Through counter-storytelling and the lens of Community Cultural Wealth, the research offers insights into how Latina leaders advance institutional transformation, advocate for student belonging, and persist in environments that often marginalize their identities and contributions.
Participating in LMU’s Ed.D. program has been a deeply transformative experience for Mercy, helping her reconnect with her voice, purpose, and identity as a scholar-practitioner. The program enhanced her understanding of her positionality, leadership values, and broader social justice implications of her work. It offered a powerful community of like-minded educators who continue to inspire and support her. Amid a national rollback of DEI initiatives, LMU gave her the tools, confidence, and conviction to lead with integrity and advocate for equity. As a proud LMU alumna, she will carry this mission forward and continue to champion educational justice in every space she serves.