John-o Roberts (he/him/his)
Coordinator
jrober48@calpoly.edu // 805.756.5815
John-o Roberts is the Coordinator for the Center for Leadership at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. John-o holds a B.A. in Political Science from California State University, Long Beach, and his M.A. in Public Policy from Cal Poly. He's sharpened his skills across fields as varied as tech, hospitality, politics, and television, learning that leadership often begins not with answers, but with a well-timed pause.
At Cal Poly, John-o's work has focused on the intersection of leadership, research, and student development. As part of the founding team that launched College Corps on campus, he worked with hundreds of students to help secure financial assistance through community service. In his first year managing the Center for Leadership, he tripled program enrollment, but has no intention of slowing down or sacrificing quality. During his time at Cal Poly, John-o completed his master's thesis, "I Hope We Can Still Be Followers: Translating College Students' Digital Social Capital to Offline Networks," which examined how online platforms shape and strain our ability to build real-world relationships. The project was recognized with multiple awards and presented at the 2024 Midwestern Political Science Conference in Chicago.
Outside the office, John-o reads more philosophy than he probably should, goes to the movies like it's a second job, collects records he swears he listens to, and shoots and develops his own 35mm film (not that anyone who does any of those things would ever talk about them).
Sarah Hawkins (she/they)
Assistant Director
Sarah Hawkins is the Associate Director of Leadership & Service at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. Sarah is originally from Fresno, California and holds a B.S. in Kinesiology and an M.A. in Kinesiology – Sport Psychology, both from Fresno State. Sarah has worked in Higher Education since 2004, working with leadership development, student organizations, club sports, and campus recreation at Ithaca College, San Jose State, Cuesta College, and Cal Poly. She has also taught as a lecturer at Fresno State, Ithaca College, and San Jose State and was the first person in the world to teach Aquatics for Children with Challenges (ATRI) Instructor Training for college credit.
Sarah is an advocate for living organ donation with Kidney Donor Athletes, Inc. and volunteers her time with the San Luis Obispo County Search and Rescue team.
In her free time, Sarah enjoys training for and competing in triathlons. She has completed 25 so far, including an IRONMAN in October 2022. She was also a silver and gold medalist at the 2022 Transplant Games of America.
Jason Mockford (He/Him/His)
Senior Director, Leadership & Service
(805) 756-2476
jmockfor@calpoly.edu
Jason Mockford is the senior director of Leadership & Service in the Division of Student Affairs at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. He is originally from Auburn, California and holds a B.S. in Graphic Communication and an M.A. in Counseling & Guidance, Higher Education, both from California Polytechnic State University.
Many key initiatives and programs have taken off during Jason's leadership of the department including the creation of the Center for Leadership, the launch of the College Corps: Coastal California Civic Leadership Consortium, expanded support for culturally-based student organizations, and the reimagining of inclusivity and anti-hazing curriculum for the fraternity and sorority community. As a part-time faculty, Jason has taught the Leadership & Consultation course and advised students in their fieldwork and internship requirements in Cal Poly's Higher Education Counseling & Student Affairs graduate program. For six years he was responsible for advising Cal Poly’s orientation board, Open House committee, and developing the nationally recognized orientation leader training program.
He has served in a variety of leadership roles both on the Cal Poly campus and in national and community-based organizations. Jason currently serves on ACPA's Mid-Level Community of Practice Directorate Board and will be the chair-elect of MLCOP in 2023-24. Previously, he has been involved in a leadership role with NODA, the Association for Orientation, Transition and Retention in Higher Education as a Transfer Services Network Chair from 2011-2014 and as a member of the Annual Conference Advisory Committee in 2014. He has been a certified community mediator with Creative Mediation in San Luis Obispo and served on their Program Advisory Board for many years. Most recently, Jason joined the Board of Directors as a founding member of Collective Good, a conflict resolution and facilitative mediation training non-profit organization based on the Central Coast of California.