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The Foothill De-Anza Board of Trustees selected provisional trustee Alexander Gvatua to represent the Central-Sunnyvale area until 2026 in a special board meeting on Wednesday.
Trustees publicly interviewed five candidates for the vacant position, after Patrick Ahrens resigned in early December to assume a new position as California State Assembly member representing District 26.
Gvatua stood out among the group as a De Anza College graduate with a career as an adjunct professor at San Jose State University and policy analyst for Santa Clara County.
Prior to his current professional positions, he was a consultant for the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, an assistant teacher at Georgetown University and a legislative director to David Cohen, San Jose city councilmember, according to a district statement.
But he wouldn’t be where he is today, Gvatua said at the meeting, without his education in the district.
“I can bring that first hand perspective as a professor when we’re having discussions with faculty and we’re having discussions around the budget,” he said. “I also want to bring to the board my years of experience in the local government sphere and the nonprofit sector.”
His top three responsibilities as a trustee, he said, are to make effective policies that meet student needs, responsibly manage the budget and to assemble community members and stakeholders to lead tough conversations.
“In the nonprofit sector, I’ve been part of teams that worked on multi-million dollar civic development programs around the world, and I have also assisted in providing responsible oversight over those funds,” he said.
As a trustee representing Area 2, Gvatua is excited to address historical and educational inequities in North Sunnyvale through local outreach and working with the Sunnyvale campus.
During the public comment period, the only speaker was De Anza student Sophia Commisso who supported Gvatua’s candidacy for his commitment to interacting with the community. Comisso, De Anza’s psychology club president, met Gvatua through local leadership courses, she said.
“I think that Alexander is a really good example of what a good leader is, for being here for the right reasons, and showing that he’s always up for learning more,” she said.
At the end of the meeting, each trustee ranked their preferences, and Gvatua received the majority of first-place votes.
Unless any registered voters file a petition for a special election, Gvatua will serve the remainder of Ahrens’ term, which expires in 2026, according to a college district statement. To continue serving past 2026, Gvatua would need to be elected by the public.
