Vice President and CFO
Vice President of Administrative Affairs & CFO
Ms. Trinidad is an experienced and entrepreneurial leader within the CSU, having most recently served as the Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs at California State University, Channel Islands since 2011. At Channel Islands, she oversees a portfolio that includes Financial Services, Budget and Capital Planning, Risk Management, Internal Audit, Facilities Services (capital and operations), Public Safety (police and parking/transportation), Environmental Health & Safety, Human Resources, Information Technology, Title IX Diversity/Inclusion, University Auxiliary Services, Site Authority, Organizational Effectiveness and Real Estate. She was instrumental in developing and leading the University’s $850 million 10-year capital expansion plan “CI 2025” from concept to execution, including several public/private partnership projects that have resulted in net revenue to the institution. Under her leadership, CSU Channel Islands was recognized by the American Association of University Administrators (AAUA) with the 2016 John L. Blackburn Award for outstanding university leadership that demonstrates creative solutions to common problems in higher education for its “CI 2025” vision plan.
Ms. Trinidad enjoys over twenty-five years of experience in public higher education. She previously served as Vice Chancellor for Administration at the University of Washington Tacoma where she developed a highly regarded organizational effectiveness program; initiated and implemented strategies to respond to declining state financial support amid growing enrollment; and led efforts to expand and update campus facilities. Ms. Trinidad also served in administrative leadership roles at the University of Texas at San Antonio over a period of twelve years, where she managed a similar business portfolio and completed a $500 million capital expansion across the university’s two campuses.
With an outstanding record of consistently driving creative solutions and innovation within growing public universities, Ms. Trinidad has been successful in spearheading process improvements to leverage existing resources and achieve efficiencies. In 2015-16, she was appointed by then CSU Chancellor Timothy White as a member of a system-wide task force charged with recommending a sustainable financial model for the CSU to the Board of
Trustees. She also currently serves on the CSU System Land Development Review Committee. She has served as the chair of the Chief Administrators and Business Officers group for the CSU, serves on local commissions and boards in Ventura County and is an active member in the leading higher education professional organizations — National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), the Society for College and University Planning (SCUP) and the Western Association of College and University Business Officers (WACUBO). A product of the CSU, Ms. Trinidad holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from California State University, Fresno and an MBA from Saint Mary’s University.