Dr. Rowena M. Tomaneng’s leadership, teaching, service, and research are guided by social justice and equity frameworks. She is currently the President of San Jose City College in the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District.
From 2016-2020, she served as the President of Berkeley City College in the Peralta Community College District. There, she launched The Berkeley Promise–a City of Berkeley, Berkeley Unified School District, Berkeley City College, and Berkeley Community Fund partnership to close the racial opportunity gap for low-income African American, Asian American, and Latino students. She also expanded the Undocumented Community Resource Center, a Define American chapter.
Prior to her presidencies, Dr. Tomaneng served multiple roles at De Anza College in the Foothill-De Anza Community College District: Associate Vice President of Instruction, Dean of Language Arts, tenured faculty member in English, Asian American Studies, and Women’s Studies, and faculty affiliate to the Asian Pacific American Leadership Institute (APALI). She was also the founding co-Director of De Anza’s then Institute of Community and Civic Engagement (ICCE).
Dr. Tomaneng received her EdD in International/Multicultural Education with a concentration in Human Rights Education from University of San Francisco, an MA in English from University of California, Santa Barbara, and a BA in English from University of California, Irvine. Dr. Tomaneng was selected as a Fellow for California Campus Compact’s Bridge-Building Initiative for Emerging Leaders of Color in Higher Education, Campus Compact’s Engaged Scholars for New Perspectives in Higher Education, and The Wheelhouse Leadership Institute, University of California, Davis. She has written and contributed to a variety of publications including the Journal of Multicultural Perspectives.
Dr. Tomaneng is a member of the Chief Executive Officers of the California Community Colleges (CEOCCC) Board, Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education (APAHE), the National Asian Pacific Islander Council (NAPIC-AACC), and California Campus Compact. She also serves as a co-Chair for Community Colleges for Democracy (CC4D) and a member of the American Association of Community Colleges’ Commission on Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity.