Bellevue College has named Janis Machala the new dean of its Continuing Education program, the largest such program in the Washington State Community and Technical Colleges system.

Machala was most recently managing partner of Paladin Partners, a venture and start-up accelerator firm she founded that worked with emerging growth companies in the Pacific Northwest. Prior to this, she was president and CEO of Pinnacle Publishing, Inc., a provider of developer software and technical newsletters. Her experience also includes senior management positions in marketing and business development with Microsoft, Sun Microsystems and Wang Laboratories.

Additionally, Machala co-founded Seraph Capital Forum, the first women’s angel fund organization in the United States, and FWE Seattle, which supported female entrepreneurs. She has served on numerous boards – including the Northwest Entrepreneur Network, Junior Achievement of King County and the Entrepreneurship Center at Seattle University – and sat on the Lake Washington Institute of Technology Board of Trustees for nearly six years.

As dean, Machala will lead a unit of the college that provides professional training, certificate programs and personal enrichment classes to more than 11,000 adult learners each year. The program, consisting of more than 30 full-time employees and 300 adjunct faculty, is housed in a newly-renovated facility located within the Eastside business corridor.

For more information about the Continuing Education program, visit http://continuingeducation.bellevuecollege.edu/.