Board Members

Board of Governors

Members of the Board of Governors

Scott Himelstein
President
Appointment: 2008-2013
Residence: San Diego

Scott Himelstein has served as the director of the Center for Education Policy and Law at the University of San Diego since 2007. Himelstein also currently serves as president of the William D. Lynch Foundation for Children and previously held the same position from 1990 to 2005. Himelstein served as the deputy secretary and chief of staff for the Office of the Secretary of Education (OSE) from 2005 to 2007 and was acting secretary from 2006 to 2007. Prior to joining OSE, he served as chair and chief executive officer of the National Even Start Association.

Alice Perez
Vice President
Appointment: 2007-2012
Residence: Roseville

Alice Perez is a consultant currently serving as the interim president and CEO of the Sacramento Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. She also serves on Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson’s team as director of governmental affairs for the education non-profit STAND UP. In this role she engages mayors and the business community on a national, state and local level to support education reform initiatives. Previously, Ms. Perez was the manager of customer strategy at Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) where she was responsible for overseeing the customer service business unit’s strategic direction. She also served as vice president and director of U.S. Bank’s national multicultural banking initiatives. In 2007, California State University, Sacramento recognized Ms. Perez with the distinguished graduate award for her outstanding service in the community. She was honored in 2006 by the Central Valley public television station KVIE, for her dedicated leadership in the Hispanic community.

Manuel Baca
Appointment: 2009-2013
Residence: Diamond Bar

Manuel Baca is currently a professor of government at Rio Hondo College where he has served on the Academic Senate Executive Committee. His previous experience includes having held a number of positions within the state university (CSU, Fullerton) and community college systems.In recognition of his service and contributions to Rio Hondo College, he was recently named as a Fellow of the College.Baca is a current member and past president of the Governing Board of the Mt. San Antonio Community College District and has also served as a member on several statewide commissions or committees. In 2005, Baca was a member of the California Community Colleges System Strategic Plan Steering Committee where he and other state leaders developed the Community College System Strategic Plan for California. He holds a Ph.D. in Education from the University of Southern California. His Bachelor and Master degrees are from California State University Fullerton where he was recently named one of fifty successful ("Querer es Poder") alumni.Baca also possesses an Associate degree from Rio Hondo College.His military service with the United States Marine Corps included a tour of duty in Vietnam. Long active within the San Gabriel Valley and the greater Los Angeles area, Baca serves or has served with numerous community-based and civic organizations.

Geoffrey L. Baum
Appointment: 2008-2014
Residence: Pasadena
Geoffrey Baum
Geoffrey L. Baum is a member and past president of the governing board of the Pasadena Area Community College District. He works at the University of Southern California, where he serves as managing director of the Center on Communication Leadership and Policy and previously as assistant dean of the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism. He previously worked for C-SPAN as executive producer and as assistant vice president of Claremont McKenna College. He has been a high school English teacher and a journalist for ABC News, public radio’s Marketplace and Army, Navy and Air Force Times. He serves on the board of the Kravis Leadership Institute at Claremont McKenna College and on the advisory board of Foothill Family Service. He holds an M.A. in journalism from USC and a B.A. in economics from Claremont McKenna College.

Natalie Berg
Appointment: 2011-2016
Residence: San Francisco

Natalie Berg is an elected member on the board of trustees for City College of San Francisco and has served onthe board since 1997. She also has worked as an independent consultant with her own firm, NKB Strategies. Natalie Berg served at City College of San Francisco in a variety of instruction and administrative positions from 1967 to 1997, retiring as dean of the School of Health on the John Adams Campus. She is a member of the Bay Area Council, and current president of Jewish Vocational Services.

Joseph J. Bielanski, Jr.
Appointment: 2011-2014
Residence: San Francisco
Joseph Bielanski
Dr. Joseph J. Bielanski, Jr., as District Academic Senate Past President, has been an institutional effectiveness coordinator for the Peralta Community College District and articulation officer at Berkeley City College since 2009. He was president of the district academic senate at Peralta Community College District from 2004 to 2009 and president of the academic senate for Berkeley City College from 2005 to 2009, after serving as co-president from 2003 to 2005. He was an articulation officer at Vista Community College from 2000 to 2004. He has served on various college and district committees, as well as on committees of the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges. He has been in the Peralta Community College District for 21 years. Dr. Bielanski received his doctorate of education from St. Mary’s College of California.

Benita D. Haley
Appointment: 2006-2012
Residence: Manhattan Beach

Benita Haley most recently served as president of Benita Haley Consultants, where she assisted numerous community colleges with special projects and government relations. Prior to that, she served for more than 25 years with the Santa Monica Community College District as a teacher, counselor and administrator. She earned a Master of Arts in educational administration from California State University, Los Angeles, and was a doctoral candidate in education at the University of Southern California.

Danny Hawkins
Appointment: 2011-2012
Residence: San Jose

Danny Hawkins has served as a senior systems administrator for the San Jose Evergreen Community College District since 1997. Previously, he served as the systems manager for Santa Clara University undergraduate admissions from 1988-1997. He received his associate of science degree and accounting/CIS from Evergreen Valley College.

Lance T. Izumi
Appointment: 2004-2015
Residence: Sacramento

Lance Izumi is Koret Senior Fellow and Senior Director of Education Studies at the Pacific Research Institute for Public Policy. Initially appointed to the Board of Governors in 2004, Mr. Izumi served two terms as president of the Board from 2008 to 2009. He is the co-executive producer of a highly praised film documentary, co-author of two critically acclaimed books, and the author of several major Pacific Research Institute studies. In 2008, he served as an online contributor for the New York Times on the presidential race and education issues. Izumi has also served as a member of the professional development working group of the California Legislature's Joint Committee to develop a master plan for education and as chief speechwriter for Governor George Deukmejian. He is a member of the California Advisory Committee of the United States Commission on Civil Rights and serves on the Executive Committee of the U.S. Army's Southern California Advisory Board. He holds a juris doctorate from the University of Southern California School of Law, a Master of Arts degree from the University of California, Davis and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Peter MacDougall
Appointment: 2010-2013
Residence: Santa Barbara

Peter MacDougall served as superintendent and president of the Santa Barbra Community College District from 1981 to 2002. From 1975 to 1981, Dr. MacDougall served as dean of students at Los Angeles Pierce College and director of educational services for the Los Angeles Community College District. From 1968 to 1975, he served as associate dean of students and a professor of counseling psychology in the graduate school of education at Rutgers State University of New Jersey. Dr. MacDougall was counselor coordinator at Penn State University from 1965 to 1968 while completing his doctoral studies and adviser of fraternity affairs at the University of Rhode Island in 1964. He served as an officer in the U.S. Army from 1962 to 1964.

Deborah Malumed
Appointment: 2005-2017
Residence: Long Beach

Deborah Malumed has served as a physician in family practice with the Southern California Permanente Medical Group and The Permanente Group in Sacramento since 2000. From 1984 to 2000 she practiced medicine with the Harriman Jones Medical Group. Dr. Malumed is a member of many professional organizations including the American Academy of Family Physicians, the California Medical Association and the Los Angeles County Medical Association.

Henry A. J. Ramos
Appointment: 2009-2014
Residence: San Luis Obispo

Henry A. J. Ramos is an independent consultant to leading U.S. foundations and nonprofit organizations, and also a respected artist and author/editor affiliated with important cultural and higher educational institutions in California, Texas and New York. Since 1995, he has served as principal of Mauer Kunst Consulting, a philanthropic advising firm. Previously, Ramos served the James Irvine Foundation as program officer for civic culture from 1992 to 1995. He was a fellow in the Robert Bosch Foundation Fellowship Program in Germany from 1991 to 1992 and an independent foundation consultant from 1990 to 1991. He served as assistant program officer for governance and public policy at the Ford Foundation from 1985 to 1988 and special assistant to the national chairman for the American G.I. Forum of the U.S. (the nation's leading organization of Hispanic veterans) from 1980 to 1983. Mr. Ramos is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (where he founded the Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy). He is a strong advocate for higher education access. Earlier this year, Latino Leaders Magazine named Ramos one of the nation's 101 most influential Hispanics.

Gary Reed
Appointment: 2005-2015
Residence: Porterville

Gary Reed has been a partner in the investment management firm of Reed, Shoemaker & Brookshire since 1993. Reed previously served as chief of staff to Assemblyman Bill Jones from 1991 to 1992 and as a Tulare County Supervisor from 1988 to 1990. He is a member of the Porterville Chamber of Commerce and member of the Tulare County Retirement Board.

Jurena Storm
Appointment: 2011-2012
Residence: Oakland

Jurena Storm is enrolled at the College of Alameda and the University of California, Berkeley. She has served as the communications officer for the California Community College Association of Student Trustees and a member on the board of trustees for the Peralta Community Colleges District from 2010 until this year. She has also worked with the College of Alameda Associated Students serving as secretary from 2008 to 2009 and vice president of administration from 2009 to 2010. Ms. Storm also served as chair elect, secretary and interim senator for the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, Region III in 2010.

Ning Yang
Appointment: 2011-2013
Residence: Sacramento

Ning Yang is pursuing a degree in psychology at Mendocino College. She has served as general assembly planning committee chair and a senator for the Student Senate for California Community Colleges, Region II since 2010. She also served as a housing programs representative for the Community Development Commission of Mendocino County in 2010 and student president for Mendocino College from 2008 to 2009.