Kimberly Collins is the Director of the California Center for Border and Regional Economic Studies (CCBRES). CCBRES is located at the San Diego State University-Imperial Valley Campus. The mission of CCBRES is to inform public and private decision makers as well as individuals of demographic, economic, and social trends in the Imperial Valley and the western U.S.-Mexican border region. As Director of CCBRES, Kimberly oversees each of the research projects at the Center, directs the data collection, edits all publications released by the Center, conducts the general day-to-day operations, and raises the necessary funds to maintain the Center’s activities.

Kimberly is a currently the U.S. Chair of the Imperial-Mexicali Air Quality Taskforce, the Founder and Chairwoman of the Calexico Carnegie Technology Center (a California Non-Profit Organization), and a member of Calexico’s Historical Commission. She is the past Chair for the Overall Economic Development Commission (2001–2003), and the past Chair of the Imperial County’s Enterprise Community subcommittee on education and quality of life (2000–2003).

Kimberly received her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California San Diego and her Masters degree in Political Science with a focus on International Relations from San Diego State University. Currently, she is working on her doctorate in applied social sciences/public administration from the College of the Northern Border-Tijuana (El Colegio de la Frontera Norte)—a graduate university in Mexico. The title of her dissertation is “Local Government Capacity and Quality of Life in the U.S.-Mexican Border: The Case of Calexico, California and Mexicali, Baja California.