Introducing AFT’s newly-elected Executive Committee members

By Jessica Silver-Sharp

Our union’s strength comes from the dedication of members who step up to lead. This year, we’re proud to introduce a mix of newly elected, re-elected, and returning leaders to the AFT 1493 Executive Committee—each bringing valuable experience and a shared commitment to advancing the needs of our faculty community. Congratulations to our AFT 1493 Executive Committee (EC) members who will take office at our final membership meeting of this year on May 13, 2026. Below we share excerpts of candidates’ statements.

Officers

AFT 1493 President Ben Feldman, Assistant Professor of History at Skyline College.

Prior to Skyline I spent 5 years as a Lecturer at Cal State East Bay, where I was involved in union organizing for our system-wide strike in January 2024. While pursuing my doctorate at Georgetown, I was a co-founder and the first vice president of the Georgetown Alliance of Graduate Employees (GAGE). Over the course of two years, GAGE built a union from the ground-up; organizing hundreds of graduate workers in over two-dozen departments to vote decisively to affiliate with AFT in 2018. In May 2020 we won our first contract, with over 99% of the vote. [As] President…I want to draw on this experience to organize our membership to win the contract that we’ve been fighting for over the last year, and to win the next one after that.

AFT 1493 Vice-President Luis Zuniga is a music faculty at Skyline College, where he specializes in instrumental music. He brings valuable experience as a union member, having held memberships in musicians’ unions in both Colorado and California. As an active member of AFT 1493, Luis serves on the contract negotiations team, works as a grievance officer at Skyline College, and contributes to the union’s executive committee.

AFT 1493 Secretary Keira Travis. “I have been teaching English at CSM since 2015. Before serving as Secretary for AFT 1493 (2024-present), I served a two-year term as AFT Executive Committee Representative for CSM (2022-24). As Secretary…I want to continue to serve in this capacity as our union local heads into a pivotal year. As Secretary, I play a key role in developing and preserving our institutional memory. I take the responsibility seriously and strive for accuracy, consistency, and reliability. That said, I’m not just a notetaker. When it comes to our contract actions, you’ll find me talking to members and in many ways being involved in organizing…

AFT 1493 Treasurer Steve Lehigh. Economics Faculty at CSM. “I have been a member of the union Executive Committee since 2018 and am running again for Treasurer, a role I have held since 2020. I actively serve on both the district and CSM budget committees, where I focus on financial analysis to help faculty better understand resource allocation decisions. My goal is to support informed advocacy that supports teaching, fair compensation and benefits for our membership.”

Cañada College

AFT 1493 Cañada Chapter Chairperson Nadia Biglari. “I am a chemistry faculty member at Cañada College and an active member of AFT 1493 since Fall 2024. In addition to my teaching, I serve as the Science and Technology Representative on the Curriculum Committee and regularly participate in Academic Senate and equity-focused initiatives across our campus. My work as an educator is deeply rooted in supporting student success, equity, and access—values that directly align with the mission of our union…I believe in the power of collective action to improve working conditions, protect faculty voices, and ultimately strengthen the learning environments we create for our students. As someone who is newer to the district but highly engaged, I bring both a fresh perspective and a strong commitment to collaboration, advocacy, and accountability. I am especially interested in expanding member engagement, supporting equitable policies, and ensuring that all faculty—especially those who may feel underrepresented—have a voice in our union. I would be honored to serve and contribute to the continued strength and solidarity of AFT 1493.

AFT 1493 Cañada Executive Committee Member Co-Reps Camille Kaslan & Salumeh Eslamieh.

Salumeh Eslamieh, English faculty, Cañada College “Being active in our union is non-negotiable for me– our union and our greater involvement in it improves our teaching and our students’ learning. I’ve been active in our union for over a decade, advocating for students, faculty, and working conditions that we deserve. I hope to continue supporting us in this role.”

Camille Kaslan. “My name is Camille Kaslan, and I teach chemistry full-time here at Cañada College. For the past two years, I’ve served our campus as the chair of our union’s Cañada campus chapter. In this role, I have learned a broad range of skills and developed deeper ties to our community – both on and off campus. From working with faculty to resolve contract issues, developing new union structures like Article Committees, organizing campus rallies, attending

negotiation sessions, speaking out at Board meetings, and facilitating our first ever Strike Authorization vote, I have witnessed first-hand the immense power and solidarity our colleagues have built in our union. I hope to continue our communal work by representing Cañada faculty as a member of the Executive Committee.”

AFT 1493 Cañada Part-Time Representative Jessica Silver-Sharp. “I am Jessica Silver-Sharp, part-time faculty librarian at Cañada and Skyline Colleges and AFT leader for the past ten years, having served in a number of roles including Secretary, Vice President, Skyline College Part-Time Representative, and editor of The Advocate. My work has focused on helping part-time colleagues – the majority of faculty in our District – understand and access the resources, rights, and benefits they are entitled to; as Part-Time Representative at Cañada College I hope to build an even stronger and more inclusive union that advocates impactfully for all part-time faculty.”

College of San Mateo

AFT 1493 College of San Mateo Chapter Chairperson Gil Perez (he/him). “I am currently CSM Chapter Chair and Negotiator, and have served on the AFT 1493 leadership team since Fall 2024. I’m a tenured Faculty Personal Counselor at CSM. Through my roles, I have integrated myself into the campus community and collaborated both campus and district-wide with student support programs and instructional programs serving as visible representation for the union and care deeply about the inequities faculty experience and the issues that matter to them. Our members have needs and aspirations that deserve to be realized so that we can sustain ourselves and give our students the best of us, not what is left of us…I have the enthusiasm, energy, and motivation to engage members, inspire action, and involvement in union activities to build a powerful local union and proactively serve as a resource and support to faculty on union issues…”

AFT 1493 College of San Mateo Executive Committee Member Elinor Westfold, Professor of ESL, AFT1493 member since Fall, 2016. I started at CSM as an adjunct and freeway flyer, except that I took SamTrans, CalTrain, and BART (all in one trip!) instead of driving. In addition to my normal gig teaching English to multilingual students, I’ve also coordinated our ESL Center, participated in the REAL Fellowship, and taught English and College 1, work which has allowed me to collaborate with not only instructional faculty across disciplines but also with our extraordinary librarians, personal and academic counselors, instructional designers, and professional development coordinators. I’ve been involved with AFT1493 as an engaged rank and file member for years – going to board meetings, organizing with the CAT (Contract Action Team), serving as my department’s Union Steward, presenting at FLEX days, co-authoring the proposed contract article on academic freedom, and, currently, serving on our AI Task Force. As an EC Representative, I will continue to listen to all faculty and advocate for fair working conditions, sustainable workloads, and respect for our autonomy and expertise as educators.

AFT 1493 College of San Mateo Part-Time Representative Geoff Balton. I have been a Part-Time Faculty in the Fire Technology program here at CSM for over two decades. I have also been a Fire Department Battalion Chief for 24 years. I have been a member of both AFT and the Chief Officers Association as its President and Chief Negotiator…I want to represent AFT because I believe the District needs to trust its faculty and behave appropriately.

Skyline College

AFT 1493 Skyline Chapter Chairperson Rika Yonemura-Fabian. My name is Rika and I am excited to serve as Skyline Chapter chairperson again. I have been teaching at Skyline for 9 years as a tenured Sociology faculty. Since my second year of tenure track, I have been serving as Skyline chapter chair of AFT and District-wide organizer for eight years. In the past term, I served as AFT1493 President, leading the contract negotiations and contract organizing including the union’s first strike authorization vote with the union leadership team. In returning as Skyline College chapter chairperson, I can again work more closely with my beloved Skyline colleagues. I enjoyed my union presidency but the position made me feel detached from my Skyline colleagues and students that I deeply care about. Particularly at this moment when we are anticipating a potential strike in Fall26, I want to play a role in leading the picket lines, and defend our faculty in my home campus. With the District-wide/State-wide knowledge on higher education labor that I accumulated as a past President, I would like to continue advocating for faculty in disputes, complaints, and grievances as a Skyline AFT team member.

AFT 1493 Skyline Part-Time Representative Dianne Jones. I have served as the Skyline Part-time Faculty Representative for the past two years. I teach in the Art Department, focusing on Art Appreciation and Digital Photography. One of my roles with AFT is creating and sharing photographs on social media to highlight and support our members. I’m running for re-election to continue in this position because I truly value being part of a strong union and a supportive community. I’m committed to advocating for fairness and equity for all faculty, staff, and employees within the San Mateo District.

Delegates to the San Mateo County Central Labor Council

Monica Malamud. I am in my 25th year teaching Spanish at Cañada College and have been an active member of our local union for 20 years. During this time, I have served in several elected roles, including campus chair (3 years), secretary (4 years), and president (8 years). Since 2013, I have been part of AFT 1493’s negotiating team, and I currently serve as chief negotiator.

At the state level, I have worked extensively with the California Federation of Teachers (CFT). I served for eight years on the English Language Learners Committee, including two years as chair. I currently serve on the Higher Education Issues Committee (10 years, eight as chair) and on the One Faculty Taskforce, which is developing a strategic plan for the California Community Colleges that guarantees equal pay for equal work for faculty within each district, as well as the same evaluations, due process, job security and benefits.

As a delegate to the CFT Convention, the AFT Convention, and the San Mateo Central Labor Council, I will continue advocating for faculty and all workers beyond our district. By participating in the broader labor movement, we can build collective power to win legislative protections for workers, so we don’t have to fight the same battles in every round of contract negotiations.

Teeka James. I teach English at CSM (full-time) and have worked in our union for over 20 years. I have served as an AFT 1493 representative to SMCCLC and CFT in the past and am eager to continue to do so. Our union’s participation in the larger labor movement is more important now than ever. In particular, both SMCCLC and CFT have been and will be important allies of ours as we continue our struggle to win a fair contract now and to break the District’s cycle of delayed contract negotiations in the future. Thank you all for your participation in our union’s work; we are stronger together.

Ben Feldman. See bio above under “AFT 1493 President.”

Rika Yonemura-Fabian. See bio above under “Skyline Chapter Chairperson.”

Maggie deVera

Lucia Lachmayr

Delegates to the 2027 Convention of the California Federation of Teachers

Nadia Biglari

Ben Feldman

Teeka James

Monica Malamud

Gil Perez

Keira Travis

Rika Yonemura-Fabian

Luis Zuniga

Doniella Maher. I have been involved in the union since 2009 across a variety of roles…As a delegate, I believe that my past union experience will allow me to knowledgeably talk about our local and bring back ideas and issues to raise in our local. I also hope that engagement with CFT will support my current and potential future role as a grievance officer.

John Perez. I am a full-time Professor of Communication Studies at Cañada College committed to strengthening higher education and advancing faculty rights. As an AFT and CFT union delegate, I aim to advocate for equitable working conditions, academic freedom, and meaningful faculty voice in decision-making. I believe strong unions are essential to protecting our profession and ensuring quality education for our students. With a collaborative and solutions-oriented approach, I will represent our faculty with integrity, transparency, and dedication while supporting policies that promote fairness, professional growth, and the long-term sustainability of our colleges and the communities we serve.

Delegates to the 2026 Convention of the American Federation of Teachers