AFT 1493 officers
Introducing newly-elected AFT Executive Committee members
New AFT 1493 Executive Committee (EC) members were elected in December 2020 and announced at the end of that month. Normally, our union EC elections take place towards the end of the Spring semester and newly elected officers take office at the last Spring membership meeting of the academic year; however, the timeline for this election was adjusted due to Covid, so new EC members took office at our first membership meeting of 2021, on January 20. These officers will serve through the end of Spring semester 2022. The full list of all of the newly elected Executive Committee members is shown at the end of this article, but we want to first allow the five new first-time members — Annie Corbett, Evan Kaiser, David Lau, Tim Rottenberg and Kolo Wamba — to briefly introduce themselves:
Annie Corbett
Hello everyone! I am so excited to participate as the AFT 1493’s Cañada College part-time representative for the Executive Committee. I have been with SMCCD since August 2019. I am currently an adjunct faculty in the Psychology departments at both Cañada and Skyline Colleges. In my academic career I have taught Quantitative Reasoning for the Behavioral Sciences, Social Psychology, General Psychology, Abnormal Psychology and Developmental Psychology. At Cañada College, I teach in the College for Working Adults (CWA) Program, which has been incredible! At Skyline College, I am the faculty lead for Open Educational Resources (OER) and am passionate about ensuring equity in all of my classes by offering courses that have Zero Textbook Cost (ZTC). I am also on the Resolutions Committee for the California Community Colleges Academic Senate.
For almost 18 years, prior to joining SMCCD, I founded and grew a non-profit residential program designed for marginalized foster youth. I worked extensively with youth who were LGBTQ, Unaccompanied Refugee Minors, and Commercially Sexually Exploited Children (CSEC). It was that incredible experience which informs and educates my teaching philosophy and methodology.
I possess a B.A. (Psychology), an M.B.A. (Public Administration) and a Ph.D. (Psychology) with an emphasis in Transformative Social Change. I did my dissertation research on the “The Voices of Survivors: what are the contributing factors that assist with exiting from commercial sexual exploitation in childhood”, and published a journal article on the same topic. I am currently enrolled in the M.A. program at Louisiana State University majoring in Education Technology (expect to graduate August 2021). I am certified by “Quality Matters” with the Teaching Online Certificate and as a Peer Reviewer.
As someone who has never been involved in a union before, it has been incredibly eye opening! I am a huge believer in equal pay for equal work and being valued for my education and experience. I am excited to represent adjunct faculty and ensure that the issues of adjunct faculty are brought forward to the Executive Committee and that adjunct faculty’s voices are heard!
Evan Kaiser
Hi there! I’m an ESL and English teacher at College of San Mateo. As a CSM Executive Committee Co-Representative, I look forward to hearing and supporting the needs of my faculty colleagues. Pay parity and benefits for Adjuncts, manageable workloads, and the creation of anti-oppressive environments are priorities for me.
I see our union as an important and potent complement to other shared governance bodies on campus. I look forward to learning more and working with folks from across the District!
When I’m not responding to student writing or building LMS modules, I like to cook, play the drums, and read nonfiction.
David Lau
I am very happy to join the Executive committee of AFT local 1493 with your votes as chapter chair of CSM. I previously served as a member of the executive board for the Cabrillo College Federation of Teachers (AFT local 4400), where I was the communications director, newsletter editor and columnist, and 2018 Monterey Bay Central Labor Council Unionist of the Year. At Cabrillo, I won six CFT communications awards for column writing and editing. I have a background in political activism and am a veteran of the Occupy movement and the Bernie Sanders campaigns, and I am a member of DSA. I hope to help with both our local issues at the district, while also becoming active again at the State and National levels of the union.
Since 2018 I have been teaching full time as an English Professor at CSM. I was educated at UCLA and the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and have taught creative writing at the graduate level at Saint Mary’s College; I’ve also had appointments at Berkeley and UCSC teaching poetry writing. I’ve published two books of poetry, Virgil and the Mountain Cat (UC Press) and Still Dirty (Commune Editions), and I’ve published poetry and essays in a variety of journals and magazines, including New Left Review, Bookforum, Boston Review, The Margins, Literary Hub, and the Poetry Foundation website. I’m co-editor of the literary journal Lana Turner.
I look forward to serving AFT members at CSM and the district for many years to come.
Tim Rottenberg
Greetings fellow unionists and educators. My name is Timothy Rottenberg, and I am excited to serve as your newly elected Part-Time Representative to the AFT 1493 Executive Committee from Skyline College. The role of the adjunct faculty member within our district is more important than ever. Roughly 7 out of every 10 faculty members employed in our district are adjuncts, and for too long our contributions to the institutional health of our campuses have been overlooked and under-represented.
I am looking forward to representing you this year as a steward of the aspirations of part timers in our district to feel included and valued as a part of our instructional community. I’m excited to meet as many of our members as possible during our Skyline AFT Office Hours this semester.
Kolo Wamba
Hello, fellow AFT members! My name is Kolo Wamba, and I am pleased to have the honor of serving as the Skyline College Executive Committee Representative. I am here because I am a big believer in democracy in the workplace, and I strive to live out this principle by actively participating in our union.
I began at Skyline as an adjunct physics instructor in Spring of 2018, and I transitioned to teaching physics full-time in the Fall of 2020. Prior to this, by day I was a tech worker at various California companies, and by night I was a part-time STEM instructor at various educational institutions.
I see the fight for fair working conditions and part-time parity in our district as part of the greater struggle for equity and justice in our society. But I have no illusions that any of this will be easy, or quick, or that our side will even prevail in the end. What I can promise is this: there will never, ever be a need for me to explain to future historians that I didn’t at least give it my best shot– such is my level of commitment.
I appreciate the opportunity to serve and look forward to working with you!
NEWLY ELECTED AFT 1493 OFFICERS
AFT 1493 President: Monica Malamud
AFT 1493 Co-Vice Presidents: Katharine Harer & Joaquin Rivera
AFT 1493 Secretary: Jessica Silver-Sharp
AFT 1493 Treasurer: Steven Lehigh
Cañada Chapter:
Cañada Chapter Co-Chairs: Doniella Maher & Michael Hoffman
Cañada Executive Committee Representative: Salumeh Eslamieh
Cañada Part-time Representative: Annie Corbett
CSM Chapter:
CSM Chapter Chair: David Lau
CSM Executive Committee Co-Representatives: David Laderman & Evan Kaiser
CSM Part-time Representative: *No nominations were made for this office, although we ultimately received a number of write-in votes. The EC will have to decide who will be appointed to the position.
Skyline Chapter:
Skyline Chapter Co-Chairs: Bianca Rowden-Quince & Rika Fabian
Skyline Executive Committee Representative: Kolo Wamba
Skyline Part-time Representative: Tim Rottenberg
[Also get to know AFT 1493 Executive Secretary Marianne Kaletzky and what she does for our Local]