The Making of a
Moonshot
West Hills Grants Office Reaches New Heights Brian Boomer compares the West Hills Grants Office to astronaut Michael Collins. As third man on the Apollo 11 mission, Collins stayed in the command module while Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took their places in history as the first people to walk on the moon.
By Matt Weeks
“Michael Collins wasn’t on magazine covers or the nightly news,” says Boomer, the newly hired director of the Grants Office. “But they couldn’t do it without him. His part of the mission was vital.” Similarly, the Grants Office is part of the behind-the-scenes machinery that keeps West Hills running steady, finding funds that help students reach for the stars. Each year, the office brings in about $10 million — money that funds everything from classroom technology to after-school programs.
But staying steady doesn’t interest Boomer. His sights are set on the horizon.
“My goals are to diversify the kind of grants we bring in,” he said. “My No. 1 goal is to go after grants that make students’ lives better. I want to be strategic, and I want to be more adventurous. For example, I want to focus on undergraduate research because it’s something that’s been shown to improve student outcomes and it’s something few community colleges are doing.”
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West Hills magazine