SENTINEL ENDORSES DALLAS FOWLER FOR L.A. COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT OF TRUSTEES SEAT 4
Los Angeles native and community leader Dallas Fowler vows to be a steward of spending and an advocate for affordable education, if elected to Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees Seat 4.
Dallas Fowler’s earliest political memory is stuffing envelopes for Rev. Jesse Jackson in 1987 at the age of 5. As a young activist at age 14 she helped plan an eighth grade walk out in protest of Prop 187 and in high school she helped organize a protest against Prop 209. A graduate of Florida A & M University affectionately known as FAMU a historically black college, she felt the impact and discrimination of down south voter suppression when she was turned away from her local polling place during her first time voting in a national election in Tallahassee, Florida.
Her passion for community involvement has garnered acknowledgment from Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Speaker Emeritus Karen Bass, Senator Isadore Hall and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. A life-long Democrat now more on the progressive side, Fowler has been actively working on campaigns for over 20 years.
She’s the Principal of Daltek Global Solutions, LLC a boutique digital & print media firm specializing in outreach, political & business development consulting. She holds over 10 years of experience in Supplier Diversity & Community Affairs and 15+ years in project management and event planning.
The current seat she is running for Los Angeles Community College District Board of Trustees Seat four, will need someone with a tremendous amount of construction and procurement experience. The management of 3.3-billion-dollar bond measure approved for LACCD will be critical to the sustainability and forward thinking needed to provide excellent education to the communities that they serve. Measure CC is a $3.3-billion construction bond.
Fowler explained, “when we talk about having a 3.3-billion-dollar bond measure that was passed in Measure CC last fall, it’s really crucial that we insure our dollars are going in the right place and make sure we are contracting locally and hiring locally on the projects. As well as having a high level of civic engagement, where not only do the students and faculty weigh in on where they would like to see some of these resources go, but also the surrounding communities. We have to make sure we’re keeping them engaged. We have a decline in enrollment and some of that is due to lack of community engagement”.
She continued, “I feel my experiences with construction coupled with my experience in marketing…I think we can do some strategic things. There are some wonderful programs at LACCD”.
Los Angeles Community College District is the largest community college district in the United States and one of the largest in the world. The district consists of 9 campuses and covers an area more than 882 square miles.
We asked Fowler what are her platform issues, “Increasing career technical education for jobs, jobs, jobs! Partnering with local industry to make sure there are jobs at the end of these two year trainings. Being a watch dog on the 3.3 billion bond coming to LACCD to make sure we are spending wisely, we are frugal and in state compliance. We also have to have financial literacy, I want to mandate a one credit course in that, as well as establish a Student Credit Union on our campuses and give some of our student’s work experience in the financial industry”.
There are nine campuses in the Los Angeles Community College District. A very diverse population of students and faculty LACCD educates almost three times as many Latino students and nearly four times as many African-American students as all of the University of California campuses combined. Eighty percent of LACCD students are from underserved populations.
The Los Angeles city colleges include Los Angeles City College, Los Angeles Southwest College, East Los Angeles College, Los Angeles, Trade – Tech College, Los Angeles Harbor College, Los Angeles Valley College, Los Angeles Mission College, West Los Angeles College and Los Angeles Pierce College.
Fowler currently serves on the boards of the Museum of African American Art and South L.A. Youth Outreach Non-profit C.H.A.N.G.E.S. Before transitioning to the Police Commission, Fowler, served on the Commission On the Status of Women as a Delegate to the National Association of Commissions for Women. She has traveled to Australia, Europe, Central America, Asia and the Caribbean. The eldest of 4 siblings, Dallas is a mentor, motivator and conduit for positive change.
With Election Day a week away, Dallas Fowler has earned the support of a broad coalition of lawmakers including congressmembers Karen Bass and Brad Sherman, State Controller Betty Yee, State Senators Holly Mitchell and Steve Bradford, assemblymembers Cristina Garcia, Autumn Burke, Chris Holden and Matt Dababneh, Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, Los Angeles Community College District Trustee Nancy Pearlman, Mayor James Butts, President of the Los Angeles Unified School District Steve Zimmer, Vice- President of the Los Angeles Unified School District Dr. George McKenna, and organizations like the 35,000 Teachers of United Teachers Los Angeles, the National Women’s Political Caucus, and the Los Angeles County Democratic Party., please v
Election day is Tuesday March 7, for polling information visit http://clerk.lacity.org/los-angeles-city-clerk-election-division.
For more information about Dallas Fowler visit http://www.dallasfowler.com/endorsements.html.
