Laurel Ridge’s 2023 Distinguished Administrator award recipient is described as a “shining star” who advocates and supports those she works with.
Director of Student Services Andrea Lo first came to the college eight years ago. She was hired as a veterans advisor and then became lead counselor at the Fauquier Campus. As the director of Student Services, she splits her time between both campuses.
“Andrea’s style is subtle, but she provides exceptional support for the folks she supervises and is an outstanding advocate for them,” her nominator writes about her. “The morale amongst the folks that she supervises is consistently high. She inspires high performance, outstanding student service and professionalism in her team. She is collaborative, smart, persistent, creative and solution driven.”
Lo says she was “pleasantly surprised” to be recognized as the Distinguished Administrator.
“We work with so many fantastic people,” she said.
The Front Royal resident – she serves on the Warren County School Board – grew up in Charlottesville.
“My favorite part of the job is the people I work with, and I like the mission of working for a community college,” she said. “I feel that the work that we do is important, and that’s very motivating. It’s always something different. I enjoy that.”
Laurel Ridge Community College was known as Lord Fairfax Community College until June 2022. For consistency purposes, the college will be referenced as Laurel Ridge going forward.