Building Collaboration to Prioritize Student Success

Successfully passing good policy requires consistent collaboration with all stakeholders. For the past 15 years, Ruth has worked as a leading organizer on social justice issues.

After blowing the whistle on sexual misconduct in the California Legislature and co-founding a coalition to advocate for workers’ rights, Ruth successfully introduced critical labor policy changes in the California Legislature by sitting down at the bargaining table with legislative leadership. Ruth knows how to work collaboratively to achieve real change.

As a trained dialogue facilitator, Ruth is committed to building a culture of collaboration on the City College Board. Since her appointment, she has met with students, faculty, staff and neighbors to bridge divides between the administration, board, educators and students, and she’ll keep doing that work to support a thriving City College for everyone.

On the issues, Ruth will:

Keep City College Affordable

  1. Protect Free City: Ruth voted for the City College Board’s resolution supporting Free City, spoke in favor of it at the San Francisco Democratic Party, and has urged city supervisors to push for restoring the program’s full funding.
  2. Promote Free City: Ruth will ensure City College effectively markets Free City with targeted, multilingual campaigns that reach high-density student areas. Instead of allocating resources to outdated methods like mass mailings, she will encourage City College to invest in more effective community outreach.
  3. Keep Cost Out of the Way: Ruth believes cost should never be the reason a San Franciscan doesn’t enroll, whether they’re finishing a degree, learning a trade or retraining for a better job.

Support a College That’s Run Well

  1. Balanced Budget: Ruth voted to approve a balanced budget that protects City College’s financial stability.
  2. Increase Budget Transparency: Ruth helped push for a more transparent, easy-to-read budget, modeled after neighboring colleges and state standards, and she’ll keep making sure it stays that way.
  3. Address Accreditation Issues: City College cleared its accreditation warning in 2025 — a milestone after years of uncertainty. Ruth will keep working with her colleagues to make sure it never returns to warning status.
  4. Support Stable Leadership: City College hired a permanent chancellor in 2025 after years of turnover at the top. Ruth will keep working with the board and the chancellor to provide the stable, lasting leadership the college needs.
  5. Plan for Long-Term Stability: Ruth will keep focusing on enrollment growth and student retention to strengthen City College’s finances for the years ahead.
  6. Restore Trust in City College: San Franciscans have repeatedly voted to support City College. As a government transparency advocate, Ruth has prioritized transparency, stability and the responsible use of public funds since joining the board, and she’ll keep pushing to move the institution forward.

Support Enrollment Growth and Open Doors

  1. Expand Dual Enrollment: Ruth supports dual enrollment between SFUSD and City College to boost equity and enrollment. Research shows students in dual enrollment are more likely to graduate high school and earn a college degree. City College has room to grow these programs, and as a former dual-enrolled student who benefited from this access, Ruth will support methods to increase dual enrollment by modeling after other states and community colleges that are leading the way.
  2. Strengthen Workforce Pathways: By partnering with local businesses and government, Ruth will encourage workforce development programs that improve job placement for graduates.