About Alexander Gvatua

I know the impact Foothill-De Anza has on our students every day– because I’ve lived that impact first-hand.

As a first-generation American and son of refugees, this district gave my sisters and me an affordable education, but more importantly, it gave us a gateway to opportunity. Foothill-De Anza helped me discover my passion for policy as a tool for giving all of us, no matter who we are or where we’re from, a fair shot in life. It gave me the opportunity to continue my education at San Jose State and Georgetown University, where I earned my Master’s degree in Public Policy. And it inspired me to come back and teach at my alma mater in San Jose where, as a professor, I strive to be an example to my students the way my professors at Foothill-De Anza were for me.

In January 2025, I was honored to be appointed to the Board of Trustees representing Trustee Area 2, Central Sunnyvale. Now, I’m running for a full term– because the years ahead of us are full of both challenges and opportunities, and the Board needs the voice of a college educator and a former student as we take on those challenges and opportunities.

Though it’s only been a year and a half since I was appointed, I’m incredibly proud of the work my Board colleagues and I have been able to accomplish in partnership with our administration. In just one year, we’ve opened our District’s first student housing, providing an affordable place to live for up to 400 students; cut the tape on 50 units of affordable housing for faculty and staff, ensuring our workers can live near the communities they serve; and moved forward with a first-of-its-kind on-campus mobile health clinic to provide convenient, accessible healthcare for students and for thousands of local community members who previously had no access to a neighborhood clinic. In response to anti-immigrant, anti-education attacks from the federal administration, I’ve spearheaded new policies to prevent the misuse of school property for immigration enforcement and championed a sanctuary resolution to protect our undocumented students. And we’ve done it all while remaining one of the top community college districts in the country, receiving national accolades for our academic excellence.

I’m proud of the things we’ve achieved together, but I know there’s so much more left to do. Too many of our students are unable to reach their full potential because they’re experiencing housing and food insecurity. Too many of our faculty and staff spend hours commuting because they can’t afford to live in the communities where they teach. And too many of the working and middle class families in our District are struggling to live with the crippling cost of living in one of the most high-cost areas in the country. These problems haven’t traditionally been the responsibility of a community college district, but it’s clear the traditional way of doing things isn’t working. We need to be innovative, we need to be bold, and we need to work collaboratively with our city, state, and school board partners to take these regional challenges head-on. That’s the kind of leadership I pledge to bring to the Board over the next four years, in partnership with my Board colleagues and our administration.