Leadership

Santa Rosa Junior College

Alice is full time faculty at Santa Rosa Junior College in the Child Development Department. She has been in the field of ECE for over 30 years, and have taught at the college level since 1997.  She previously served as the secretary for CCCECE, and has served on the Sonoma County Child Care Planning Council and in various leadership roles at her college.

Allan Hancock College

Thesa is a Department Chair of Applied Behavior Sciences and Professor of Early Childhood Studies at Allan Hancock College.  Thesa has been a member of CCCECE since 2010 and has served as a Regional Catalyst in Region 6 for many years. Thesa is currently serving as Treasurer.

Solano College

Tony is a full-time instructor of Child Development and Family studies at Solano Community College.  He began his career in early childhood in the late 1900’s while teaching after-school, preschool, infants, and toddlers. He went on to become a mentor teacher for Diablo Valley College and later was hired by DVC as a part time instructor.  He joined the California Community College Early Childhood Educators (CCCECE) in 2012, served on the  board as the Region 3 Catalyst in 2015 and in 2021 was elected Vice President of Public Policy North.  He has previously written and presented for the Faculty Initiative Project through WestEd and is currently a PEACH Steering Committee member and serves on his Local Planning Council.

Donna Cecil 2024-26

Palomar Community College

Donna (she/her) is an adjunct faculty member at Palomar Community College. She has been involved in some capacity in early childhood for almost 30 years. She began her early childhood career working at Marine World Africa USA, taking animals to Bay Area preschools. She has worked in early childhood classrooms and served as a program director for campus lab schools.

2024-26

Merritt College

Michelle is a dedicated early childhood education professional with more than 30 years of experience in teaching, program leadership, and educator development. She holds a Master of Science in Education with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education from California State University, East Bay, and a Program Director Permit from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing. Michelle is a full-time faculty member in the Child Development Department at Merritt College and has taught at Merritt College, Chabot College, and California State University, East Bay. Her extensive experience includes roles as a classroom teacher, mentor teacher, Head Start center director, and Assistant Director of the California Early Childhood Mentor Program. She is passionate about supporting young children, families, and the next generation of early childhood educators.

Los Angeles Trade Tech

Los Medanos College/Diablo Valley College

Erin (she/her) has been adjunct faculty at a number of colleges and universities for over 20 years with the last 17 at Diablo Valley and Los Medanos Colleges.

Erin began her career as a preschool teacher and director in an urban center and has since worked in Head Start, training and technical assistance programs, policy and advocacy, and has led state and national initiatives. She served in the Biden administration as the Senior Early Learning Impact Fellow and is a former Children’s Defense Fund Emerging Leader. Much of her career has focused on the needs of dual language learners and she currently sits on the CA Multilingual for All Campaign ECE and Workforce Committees. In her spare time, she is a special education advocate.

Palomar College

Jenny (she/her) is a professor in the Child Development & Education department at Palomar College and has been actively involved in shared governance and social justice issues throughout her 19 years as a full-time faculty member. In addition to being a former department chair and current/past representative on many committees and councils, she is currently the Faculty Senate Vice President, the lead negotiator for the Palomar Faculty Federation, and the liaison to the Early Childhood Education Lab School. Jenny is the elected Catalyst Liaison for California Community College Early Childhood Educators (CCCECE) and a former Region 10 catalyst, and serves on several steering committees and boards, including San Diego American Association for Women in Community Colleges (SDAAWCC). Jenny is the author of a book for ECE professionals titled Guidance for Supporting Gender Diversity in Early Childhood Education which was published by Gryphon House in fall 2022 and is a current doctoral student in Community College Leadership.

Contra Costa College

Brianne  is a full- time Faculty at Contra Costa College for the Early Childhood Development Program where she was the director of the on campus Early Childhood Lab School for five years. Previously, Brianne was an adjunct instructor at Contra Costa College, Diablo Valley College and Solano College. While teaching adjunct, she was also the Early Childhood Specialist (Master Teacher) in the lab school at Diablo Valley College.  Brianne has been a member of CCCECE since 2016 and soon became  a Catalyst. She feels that the connections she made with colleagues at CCCECE meetings are what helped her to reach her goal of obtaining a full-time position. She wanted to be the lab school liaison so she could advocate for early childhood lab schools throughout the state.