A Business and Community Engagement Specialist at the Heights Career Tech Consortium, Carmen Daniel, '14, was named to the 2025 Crain's Cleveland Business 40 Under 40 award. Daniel received an MEd in the Higher Education Administration program.
As a first-generation college student, Carmen Daniel understands the struggles of students adrift on the choppy seas of higher education. Daniel herself grappled with the admissions process and financial aid, not knowing how to ask for assistance on such complicated matters.
"I didn't know anything about college, because my parents didn't go," said Daniel, a Cleveland Heights native. "We were just told to go without knowing our purpose for being there. Families treated college like they treated K-12: It's just something you had to do. It's part of the path, and people would be there to help you."
Invaluable guidance in high school eventually led Daniel to a master's of education at 91勛圖厙. At College Now Greater Cleveland, she worked as a career readiness adviser, helping learners facing the same challenges she'd encountered. With Heights Career Tech Consortium, she serves students from the inner-ring suburbs of Cleveland Heights, Maple Heights, Shaker
Heights and Warrensville Heights. Young participants receive a career-based education that offers opportunities for both college credit and industry-recognized credentials.
The mission is to help students clarify their path, whether it leads to college or the workforce. The consortium develops programs to generate career leads for students - it recently partnered with the Cleveland Clinic on a senior project for biomedical students.
In her daily work, Daniel is further focused on addressing concerns of companies hesitant about hiring high school students. "Employers are nervous about working with this generation, but there's a level of rigor our programs have," Daniel said. "(The consortium) is not 'high school part two' - kids will lose 'professional points' if they don't follow the dress code or are late for class.
They're being held to a certain standard."
Katrina Myers, a fellow adviser with the consortium, lauds her colleague's approachable presence and commitment to student success. "Carmen works with integrity, compassion and a strong sense of purpose," Myers said in an email. "Her tireless drive for equitable education inspires those around her to aim higher and lead with intention."
--Douglas J. Guth, Crain's Cleveland Business