Access to quality public higher education has made a huge difference in Brigitte Davila's life as well as the lives of the thousands of students she mentored and taught over the years. This is the reason she is running to serve on the City College Board of Trustees: to ensure that access to public higher education extends to all San Franciscans.
As the first in her family to go on to higher education, community college was the initial step in a journey that led her to graduate school at UC Berkeley. Starting work in a factory right after high school, peer recruiters from MEChA (Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlán) outreached to her in the 1970's about the possibility of attending college. This peer to peer outreach changed the lives of many young Latinos at the time.
She started at a Community College in Los Angeles County and went on to obtain a BA in Rhetoric at UC Berkeley and a JD degree from Berkeley Law. She started teaching Government and Policy classes in the Latina/o Studies Department in the College of Ethnic Studies in 1994. Thanks to 20 years of mentoring and teaching, she understands what it takes for students of all backgrounds to thrive and succeed.
While teaching, she spent the last ten years advocating for quality public education at the local, state and national level, working with legislators, faculty, staff, administrators and students to pass legislation and push for budgets that support access to public education.
Saving our City College is her job priority #1. Restoring accreditation and stabilizing operations is the initial goal, and she will bring her leadership, analytical, teamwork and decision making abilities to bear as she works to not only keep City College open, but to expand its promise of education for all.