There is a looming crisis in California community colleges due to an unprecedented number college presidents retiring. African American women presidents have played a vital role in supporting the success of students of color, particularly African American students. It will be critically important that a new generation of talented African American women serve as college presidents. The purpose of this phenomenological qualitative study was to examine the lived experiences of eight African American women administrators on the career path to a community college presidency to determine the factors that influenced them toward or away from a community college presidency. Critical feminist theory, social identity, and LID theories were used to frame and explore the participants' leadership experiences. Findings suggest that (a) participants had a strong leader identity influenced by early leadership experience and a desire to serve others; (b) critical feminist theory was important in framing the participants' experiences; (c) early and consistent mentoring, particularly by presidents, seemed to influence the leadership aspirations of participants; and (d) the majority of participants wanted to advance to at least the next level of leadership while half of the participants wanted to aspire to a presidency. Community college leaders can use the results of this study to develop professional development and support networks for African American women leaders; adopt college-wide diversity frameworks to assess their colleges' commitments to equity and inclusion; and create "grow-your-own" leadership programs that address the concerns of African American women administrators. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]