Angela Catena, PhD, is a member of the Coordinator & Director Services Team at Grand River Solutions.

Angela has more than 15 years of experience in higher education, civil rights compliance, interpersonal violence prevention and response, and organizational leadership. Previous to working at Grand River Solutions, Angela served as the Title IX Coordinator at the University of New Mexico and the Director of title IX Compliance / Title IX Coordinator at Virginia Tech, where she led institution-wide efforts related to Title IX, sex-based discrimination and harassment, sexual misconduct, pregnancy and parenting protections, and other civil rights compliance responsibilities.

Angela’s work is grounded in building systems that are both compliant and responsive to the people they serve. Throughout her career, she has led and overseen complex investigations and resolution processes; developed policies, procedures, and alternative resolution practices; advised institutional leaders on complex and sensitive matters; supervised multidisciplinary teams; and strengthened systems related to data, prevention, reporting, and response. Her experience includes Title VI, Title VII, ADA/Section 504, VAWA, and Clery Act compliance, as well as developing pregnancy and parenting support frameworks. Angela also brings experience in multidisciplinary threat assessment and behavioral intervention, where her civil rights and clinical backgrounds inform her approach to evaluating complex concerns involving safety, risk, and individual and community needs.

Angela brings experience in academic medicine and healthy learning environments. She has worked extensively with medical education leaders to address learner mistreatment, strengthen reporting and response systems, navigate accreditation considerations, and develop sustainable approaches to improving the learning environment. Her work has included helping build and expand learner-focused offices within academic health sciences environments and advising leaders on organizational strategy, stakeholder engagement, and long-term sustainability.

Before her institutional civil rights leadership roles, Angela worked as a mental health clinician specializing in trauma and interpersonal violence, and later she served as clinical faculty in counselor education. Her clinical and educational background continues to inform her approach to civil rights and organizational work, including an emphasis on thoughtful assessment, clear communication, trust-building, and balancing accountability with care. Angela earned her PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of New Mexico, with cognates in Public Health and Health Education, an MA in Community Counseling from Argosy University, and a BA in Psychology from Carthage College.