JULIE WEISMANN, 65
Zone 3 incumbent candidate
Hometown: Springfield for 7 years, Eugene for 12 years, and then Northern California
Family: Partnered for 27 years, married 12 years … partner occupation is artist … adult children aged 30, 35, and 40
Employer and occupation: Hope & Safety Alliance (formerly Womenspace), Finance Director
Public sector experience: Past Executive Director, Hope & Safety Alliance, Development Director, Cascades Raptor Center, past member of Poverty & Homeless Board, Cornerstone Community Housing Board member, Pro Tem Instructor, UO Nonprofit Law Clinic. … Unsuccessful run for Pacifica, Calif., City Council, 2004
Private sector experience: Hi-Tech Lamps, owner; nonprofit and small business consultant, web development
Leadership style: “Fair”
At your best: “Insightful”
At your worst: “Overthinker”
Sometimes, I think we forget to explain what it means to say I’m a first-generation and nontraditional student. I assume we all know, but like most assumptions, that’s not always the case.
For me, I’m the first person in my family to go to college and earn a degree. My parents only had high school educations. My dad worked in all sorts of jobs, from cleaning huge oil containers to selling encyclopedias, all to support a family of five. My mom had her hands full with twins and another born 11 months later, and my parents were barely 21 years old.
When I started community college at 20, my parents didn’t know how to help, so I had to figure it out on my own. As I became involved with student government and then the California Community College Student Government Association (CCCSGA), I was elected to represent the 13 colleges in our area, and later served as chairperson of this 30-member State Board. After just six months, I was elected president of CCCSGA, and I had to relocate to the state capital, Sacramento, to serve my one-year term representing 107 community colleges and 1.3 million students.
I had this dream of getting my law degree and going into politics, and suddenly I was doing the politics part, lobbying, meeting, negotiating, testifying in committees, etc. It was exciting. Some of my fondest memories are working with legislators and the governor to make a difference for students. However, I also began to question my dream. I got disillusioned with the party politics.
I was only 22 or 23, and I was all alone in Sacramento. When my term of office ended, I felt lost. I had to figure out how to move back home, find a job, an apartment, and enroll in college again.
And this is my first-generation story – I had no one to encourage me to stay in college, so I didn’t. I got a waitressing job and a roommate.
My non-traditional student journey began 30 years later, when I decided to return to college and complete what I had started. I will be forever grateful to the Ford Family Foundation for awarding me their Restart Scholarship.
This is when I fell in love with Lane Community College, and that’s why I’m so passionate about working for students on the Board of Education.
