Alma Kanić Franco
Board Member
Alma Kanić Franco serves as the Director of Educational Opportunity Program (EOP) Strategic Initiatives for the State University of New York (SUNY), where she drives systemwide strategy, assessment, and cross-campus partnerships to expand educational access, equity, and student success across 55 campuses. In this role, she translates statewide priorities into actionable initiatives, strengthens accountability for outcomes, and advances data-informed improvement across the EOP network. Prior to joining the Office of Opportunity Programs, Alma spent seven years in SUNY System Administration’s Office of Community Colleges and Education Pipeline, leading large-scale student success efforts and supporting multi-stakeholder work through the New York Student Success Center.
A refugee and immigrant advocate by both lived experience and professional practice, Alma’s commitment to humanity and human rights is rooted in a lifelong dedication to building pathways to belonging and opportunity. Earlier in her career, she served as a case manager supporting refugees and immigrants as they navigated education, employment, healthcare, and citizenship processes, and later consulted in Germany on integration and cross-cultural understanding. She is trilingual in Bosnian, German, and English, and brings a global perspective shaped by academic preparation and brings a global perspective shaped by academic preparation with an Associate Degree from Hudson Valley Community College, a Bachelors Degree(s) in International Relations and German Language, Literature and Culture from Syracuse University, and Master’s Degree in Educational Psychology from The College of Saint Rose, alongside training in program evaluation, grant writing, and trauma-informed practice.
As a board member of Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, Alma brings governance-ready leadership and a track record of building partnerships across diverse communities to achieve measurable impact. She is known for turning ambitious mission goals into practical workplans, fostering thoughtful dialogue, and helping groups move from relationship-building to sustained action. Alma is deeply aligned with Sisterhood’s model of Muslim–Jewish connection of solidarity, local chapter empowerment, and service-driven peacebuilding, and she is especially committed to expanding opportunities for interfaith engagement through stronger ties to higher education inviting students, faculty, and campus leaders into learning, service, and collaborative community-building.
