Three Peralta District students were accepted to a scholarship-based program that focuses on training students to become software testers. Marina Daltro (Laney College), Stefanie Mutialu (Merritt College), and Gift Olatunji (Laney College) applied for the Testlio Ignite program in July of 2021. Testlio Ignite, created by the tech company Testlio, Inc in 2020, is a social impact program for people from marginalized groups intended to initiate their career in remote software testing via a 10-week scholarship-based program.
Peralta Community College District Board Extends Chancellor Jannett Jackson’s Contract for Two Years
The Board of Trustees of the Peralta Community College District (PCCD) today unanimously voted in special session to extend the contract of Dr. Jannett Jackson as Interim Chancellor of the District for two years.
“The Board took this action to continue the positive momentum and direction enabled by Chancellor Jackson's leadership,” said Dr. Cynthia Napoli-Abella Reiss, President of the Board of Trustees of Peralta Community College District. “Chancellor Jackson has demonstrated a fervent commitment to students, staff, and faculty; and the Board understands and values how critical leadership stability is in remaining steadfast on our course of action.”
The Board renewed Interim Chancellor Dr. Jannett Jackson’s contract until December 2023.
“Chancellor Jackson is the right person at the right time for this job. She brings decades of administrative experience to Peralta and has demonstrated a lifelong commitment to the well-being of students, staff, and faculty- and really our entire community,” added Dr. Nicky Gonzalez Yuen, Vice President of the Board. “She has worked to build a culture of inclusion, respect and accountability across the District.”
“I’m excited about the opportunity to continue to lead this district,” said Chancellor Dr. Jannett Jackson. “I am humbled that the Board of Trustees has demonstrated their trust and support of my actions as the senior leader, and I look forward to continuing to work with some amazing colleagues. Peralta and its colleges have great promise and potential to make an even greater positive impact on the lives of our students and our community.”
Chancellor Jackson is an experienced CEO having served as the esteemed Chancellor of the Chabot-Los Positas Community College District from 2013 to 2018 when she retired, and previously served as Interim President of Skyline Community College in San Bruno in 2019-2020 prior to her appointment as PCCD Interim Chancellor in April of 2021.
Chancellor Jackson first joined the PCCD District via College of Alameda in 2004 serving as Vice President of Instruction. In 2010 she was promoted to President of the College and she served as President with distinction through 2013, when she left to become Chancellor at the neighboring Chabot-Los Positas Community College District.
Chancellor Jackson was hired by PCCD in April because she knows the community so well and has proven experience as both an educator and chief executive officer, Dr. Napoli-Abella Reiss said at the time of her hiring, adding that Dr. Jackson’s would “help Peralta continue the good progress we’ve made over the past year, on both our finances and our accreditation.”
The Peralta Community College District Board of Trustees met on Tuesday, October 12, 2021 for a very efficient and productive meeting. The full meeting was divided into three parts: a brief public session, a closed session, then the regular public meeting.
On Wednesday, September 29, Merritt College had the privilege of hosting a critical discussion on the topic, “What does the fight for LGBTQ+ rights have to do with Racial Justice?”
The conversation was led by Ms. Ronit Matabuena-Lev, who is a health educator, the founder of Bird and Bee Education (an organization dedicated to empowering young people to practice self-care for their physical, emotional, social, and sexual well-being), and a former classroom teacher.
ACCESO Kicks Off it’s Second Year of Programming with a New Workshop Series and Lively Hispanic Heritage Month Celebrations
President Besikof Meets With API Community Leaders
On September 22, 2021, President Besikof conducted a virtual meeting with Asian Pacific Islander (API) community leaders from the East Bay. The meeting was a forum to provide leaders in the API community to speak directly to the President about ways Laney College can be an effective partner and better serve the community.
The goal of the meeting was to identify ways that Laney College can be more responsive to API community needs, including career services and job training programs to help students establish careers that will contribute to the East Bay economy.
Attending the meeting were leaders from the Oakland Asian Cultural Center, Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, Lao Family Community Development, East Bay Asian Youth Center, and the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation. President Besikof invited attendees to establish and ongoing dialogue with the college, and announced future opportunities for more in-depth discussions.
Mam Group Performs at Warriors Kick-off Game
On Oct. 6, Laney's Mam group performed at the first Warriors game of the season. Henry Sales and Tessa Scott have been holding Mam workshops at Laney College sponsored by the Latinx Cultural Center for almost two years, offering a Certificate of Achievement in Mam Language and Culture as well as 3 courses (for Beginners, Intermediates and Advanced students).
They will also be performing at the Chase Center, November 11th and December 6th!
Berkeley City College continues to stand out from among California Community Colleges. Our BCC president Dr. Angelica Garcia was selected by the Aspen Institute to be part of the College Excellence program Aspen Rising Presidents Fellows 2021. Also, we are proud to announce that two of our faculty members have gotten great recognition by the media. Louise Stanley, an artist & faculty member at BCC has her paintings currently on view in the show “Forbidden Fruit”, in New York. Additionally, on September 17, Fatima Shah, a general counselor at BCC, joined the NPR Podcast KQED The California Report Magazine and spoke about her journey as an immigrant from Pakistan pursuing higher education in America.
Are you looking for an exciting way to serve your community? The Peralta Community College District is looking for new members to serve on the Citizens' Parcel Tax Measures Oversight Committee.
Welcome the new head coach of the Women’s Volleyball team of COA Taylor Elliot! Taylor has been a volleyball player since 2013. She began her career as a student-athlete at College of Alameda as a member of the Cougars volleyball team. In 2017, she accepted a position of assistant coach at CoA and started coaching the team. In 2021, Taylor was approved as the new head coach of the Cougars. She takes over from former head coach and athletic director Linda Thompson, who retires after 27 years of athletic service in Peralta Colleges.