Beginnings Don't Decide Endings: Matt McKindley’s Journey at CR

Published on Feb 4 2026

Matt McKindley’s path to higher education did not follow the traditional route, and that’s exactly what makes his story so powerful.

Humble and methodical when he speaks, Matt is thoughtful, sharp, and quietly determined. A high school dropout who was previously incarcerated and three years into recovery, he arrived at the doorstep of CR’s Klamath Trinity Instructional Site in 2015 in hopes of getting the part time custodial job that was advertised. 

But to see how he moved forward from that moment, let’s go back.

Originally from California’s Central Valley, Matt grew up in Chowchilla and later Bakersfield, where he worked on drilling rigs and in construction to make ends meet for his wife and two children. He left high school during his freshman year and didn’t look back until he couldn’t.

“Before starting college,” he says, “the highest grade I completed was eighth grade.”

In 2015, Matt and his family moved to Hoopa Valley seeking a fresh start and to support his wife’s father who is a Hoopa Valley Tribal Member. Their children were in third and fifth grade at the time.

Then that knock on the door of the Klamath Trinity Site in 2015 changed everything. Because in 2016 not did Matt become a full-time student, he also landed the part time custodial job which made him an employee at College of the Redwoods.

“I was working in higher education while pursuing my education,” he says. “And with every degree I’ve received, my ability to help students expanded.”

Yet that growth was not short of doubt.

Early on, Matt had applied for a mentoring position at CR and was turned down because of his record. “It was incredibly deflating,” he recalls. “I was getting 4.0 semesters, doing everything right, and I wondered if I was wasting my time.” What encouraged him was his college counselor (Melissa Ruiz) whose role he now fills himself. “She talked me off the ledge,” he says. “And I kept going.”

Today, ten years later, Matt holds a master’s degree in social work, teaches in the Addiction Studies program, advises students, serves on multiple college committees, is the System Impacted Student Union (SISU) Faculty Advisor, and works as an academic advisor through the Hoopa Higher Education Program.

His connection to students runs deep, shaped by lived experience, recovery, and resilience. Matt is open about being justice-involved and how that part of his past, while not defining him, informs how he shows up for students. That openness helped inspire his work.

And what’s more? He inspires students just as Melissa Ruiz had inspired him.

“What education can’t teach is lived experience,” Matt says. “And having people from different walks of life in higher education helps students see what’s possible.”

For Matt, working at the College of the Redwood Klamath Trinity Instructional Site is more than a job. It is transformative work. From helping students complete their first FAFSA to watching them walk across the graduation stage, he sees education as a powerful tool for change, access, and healing.

And for the students who walk into Matt's office, his story is living proof that no starting point determines how far someone can go.