Hironao Okahana is a mission-driven professional who thrives on working to help the postsecondary sector meet its full potential as a public good and a vehicle for social change and equity. He thinks deeply and innovatively, connects ideas and people, and offers insights and counsel. Through his work and by bringing together stakeholders, leaders, and experts, he seeks to amplify underserved voices and facilitate the evidence-based discourse that will serve as a catalyst for institutional changes and policy reforms in postsecondary education.
He first joined the American Council on Education (ACE) in 2021 as the head of research and currently serves as vice president and executive director of Education Futures Lab. In this capacity, he is at the forefront of advancing ACE’s thought leadership areas—systems dynamics, learner success, and leadership—and leads a portfolio of high-impact and evidence-inspired programs.
Okahana is a nationally and internationally recognized leader at the nexus of postsecondary education research, practice, and policy. In addition to his work at ACE, he also serves in several other roles, including as a member of the Board on Higher Education and Workforce at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; a member of the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative at the National Center for Education Statistics; and an international affiliate fellow at the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy in Japan. Prior to joining ACE, he worked at the Council of Graduate Schools for over eight years, culminating his time there as the vice president for research and knowledge development. Okahana has written a number of technical reports, research briefs, and peer-reviewed articles, and he has given academic presentations and delivered invited talks at national and regional convenings. He has also been quoted by outlets such as the Associated Press, The Boston Globe, Business Insider, Teen Vogue, and The Wall Street Journal.
Since 2015, Okahana has been an adjunct faculty member in the Higher Education Program at George Mason University. In this role, he teaches graduate-level courses in higher education, supervises independent study courses, and serves on doctoral dissertation and comprehensive portfolio committees. He is a member of the editorial review board for Innovative Higher Education, was the 2024 conference committee chair for the Association for the Study of Higher Education, and worked as an adjunct assistant professor of education at the William & Mary School of Education from 2020 to 2024.
Originally from Tokyo, Japan, he resides in Northern Virginia with his wife, Saleha Bholat—associate dean of the Language, Arts, and Social Sciences division at Northern Virginia Community College Loudoun Campus—and their two boys. Okahana earned his PhD in education and master’s degree in public policy from the University of California, Los Angeles and his undergraduate degrees from California State University, Long Beach.