Patrick Crane

Patrick Crane, Ph.D., is the strategy director for state policy for Lumina Foundation, an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis committed to making learning opportunities beyond high school available to all. He leads the development and implementation of Lumina’s state policy strategy and oversees the portfolio of grants aimed at increasing credential attainment and value.

Before joining Lumina, Crane was vice president of strategic initiatives for the North Carolina Community College System, leading efforts to improve educational outcomes and strengthen workforce development across the state’s community colleges.

Before that, he was the director of the Office of Community Colleges and Workforce Development for the Oregon Higher Education Coordinating Commission. In that role Crane led statewide efforts to advance student success, workforce alignment, and higher education policy. He also served as director of policy and strategic initiatives for the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission and as an education policy advisor to Joe Manchin, then the state’s governor.

Crane holds a bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Wesleyan University, a master’s in higher education from the University of Oslo, and a doctorate in higher education from the University of Georgia.