Jameson, a former foster youth, is a policy staffer for San Diego County Supervisor Monica Montgomery Steppe and also works with RISE Research and Evaluation. Growing up in Southeast San Diego, Jameson graduated from Lincoln High School, attended San Diego City College and transferred to Clark Atlanta University, the first Historically Black College or University (HBCU) in the South, where she earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work, focusing on mental health. She is committed to providing the support and wraparound services for students from underserved and long-ignored communities to succeed, which she says is critical to raising overall student academic achievement.
Magaña taught at Mesa College for more than 20 years and has served on numerous U.S. Department of Education TRIO and GEAR UP program panels responsible for evaluating project proposals in highly competitive grant competitions. Her focus is on student success for all and, like Jameson, aims to provide the conditions for underrepresented, low-income, first-generation college students to thrive. A longtime Mira Mesa resident, Magaña earned her doctorate in psychology from Alliant National University, a master’s in counseling from San Diego State University and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from UC San Diego.
This is the first time since 2018 and just the third time this century the five-member Board of Trustees will have seated two new members. Voters overwhelmingly elected Jameson on November 5 to represent Trustee District D, which includes the San Diego neighborhoods of College Area, Rolando/Rolando Park, Oak Park, Kensington San Carlos, Del Cerro, El Cerrito, Talmadge, Lincoln Park, Skyline and Encanto. Magaña ran unopposed to represent Trustee District B, which includes the Mira Mesa, Scripps Ranch, Kearny Mesa, Serra Mesa, Allied Gardens and Tierrasanta. Per SDCCD practice, both will take the oath of office at the Board of Trustees’ December 19 organizational meeting.
Magaña and Jameson join returning trustees Geysil Arroyo, who was appointed to fill a vacancy in 2021 and elected in 2022; Craig Milgrim, who was first elected in 2018 and re-elected four years later; and Maria Nieto Senour, who was first elected in 1990 and was last re-elected in 2022.
The SDCCD’s Board of Trustees oversees one of the largest community college districts in the state and the largest higher education and workforce development system in the region. Board priorities in the coming year include managing a $3.5-billion bond measure voters approved November 5; continuing to grow enrollment following declines during the pandemic; expanding services for students who aren’t sure where they are going to sleep for the night or where their next meal is coming from; and building on a steadfast commitment to equity, diversity and inclusion while eliminating achievement gaps.