MEET REBECCA

Early Life:

Rebecca is the daughter of two working-class parents. Her father is the son of Mexican and Irish immigrants and her mother is from Liverpool, England. After jobs took them from Oakland to England and Saudi Arabia, the family settled in Concord when Rebecca was 12. Rebecca now lives with her fiancé in Martinez, just a short drive from the home where she grew up in North Concord.

The Bay Area has seen many economic booms and busts. Rebecca’s mother had to go back to work as an at home caregiver to the elderly after the Dot-com Bubble burst in the early 2000’s. A great education for their kids was her parents only priority and they sacrificed for it.

Rebecca attended Glenbrook and Sequoia Middle Schools, and Concord High School. After graduating from Concord High in 2007, Rebecca was accepted into Boston University—just as the Bay Area housing crisis had begun. Rebecca and her family made the difficult decision to attend DVC to avoid taking on huge amounts of college debt.

Attending DVC turned out to be one of Rebecca’s best educational decisions.

At DVC, Rebecca finally got support for dyslexia, had smaller class sizes and was able to work, intern and volunteer while being a full-time student.

Within two years, Rebecca transferred to UCLA, where she earned a B.A. in Political Science. While she was a full-time student, she worked on then-Assemblymember Tom Torlakson’s campaign for State Superintendent of Public Instruction. She also organized students and faculty to stop tuition increases and cuts to higher education.

PROFESSIONAL Experience:

Rebecca is part of a generation that came of age during school shootings, climate change, and rapidly increasing costs of higher education and housing. Tackling these challenges through public service has been at the heart of Rebecca’s career.

After graduation, Rebecca went to work at the California Department of Education (CDE) in Sacramento. She began as the Special Assistant to the State Superintendent and ended her time at CDE as Principal Advisor to the State Superintendent, on the Department of Education’s senior management team.

Rebecca led the team that implemented the new school awards system, Gold Ribbon Schools, that rewards schools for not just test scores but how they serve at risk students, encourage community engagement, and implement art and civics programs. She also served on the Assembly Speaker's Commission on Labor Education and the California Task Force on Civic Learning, serving alongside Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye of the California Supreme Court.

Rebecca returned home to Contra Costa in 2015 to work for Congressman Mark DeSaulnier. Since 2017, she has worked for many other elected officials and local education nonprofits.

In 2018, Rebecca ran for the Contra Costa Community College Board as the student and faculty voice. Ever since being elected with over 60 percent of the vote, she has consistently delivered on her promises, ensuring our community colleges are safe, accessible and supportive of all students and their goals in life and career.

That experience puts Rebecca at the intersection of living California’s education policies and helping to make them.

Rebecca has led the charge fighting Sacramento’s proposed budget cuts to our college district, successfully protecting student resources for years to come. She has made it the district’s priority to provide support to all students, particularly first generation college students. Under her tenure, the district expanded the First Time + Full Time = Free Tuition (FT3) program, and ensured students have access to counselors, free or low-cost textbooks and food assistance.

When the establishment told her “no,” Rebecca fought to fly the Pride Flag to ensure all students feel safe and accepted on our campuses. As the only woman of Mexican heritage on the board, she also championed efforts to promote justice, equity, diversity and inclusion, responding quickly to acts of hate on campus and ensuring the district proactively responded to the murder of George Floyd and joined national anti-racist efforts.

During the height of COVID-19, Rebecca, as Board President, worked to ensure a smooth transition to online learning, championing direct support to students in crisis. Our colleges implemented emergency support scholarships and expanded food assistance to students and community members in need. The district also ensured that no employees were laid-off and that school construction projects continued safely during the pandemic, supporting our local economy and workforce.

In 2021, Rebecca helped pass a comprehensive Project Labor Agreement (PLA), providing good paying union jobs to local residents, district graduates and veterans.

As we move past the COVID-19 crisis, Rebecca is prioritizing efforts to strengthen our community colleges and best support our students while growing our local economy.