Hey, Saddleback! I’m Rachel Abalos, and I will make sure our students’ needs are at the top of our district’s priorities as your Student Trustee. To prepare to serve alongside our District’s Chancellor and Trustees on our district board, I currently serve as IVC’s student representative on the Chancellor Hiring Committee for the coming 2022-2023 school year, where I will help ensure that the leader of our school district is representative of our students’ values, and I serve our district alongside the current Vice Chancellor on the District Resources Allocation Council to make sure the district’s budget spending prioritizes our students’ needs. I have worked closely with our school administration, staff, and peers this past year tackling issues of inaccessibility and inequity on campus. In the past 5 months, I helped pass a Menstrual Equity Resolution on campus, which was followed by our administration putting free menstrual products for all students in campus bathrooms. Additionally, I co-organized and passed through IVC a statewide Sustainability Resolution to bring renewable energy, reduce waste, and combat environmental racial injustice in our campus community. Most recently, during the last week of February, I have worked to protect student disability rights, a topic I also represent as a DSPS student, on campus and nationwide through speaking at our district’s Board of Trustees meeting and the Los Angeles Community College District meeting calling for the stop of discriminatory legislation, guiding and co-organizing students from our school and schools across California to raise their voices to speak at the LACCD board meeting, growing an effective social media campaign to collaborate with local civil rights organizations, and increasing an emphasis on student’s rights, accessibility, and campus awareness in our own school’s Disabled Students Programs and Services. A bit about me: I am an Anthropology Major who wants to bring accessibility and increased equity to our school district’s operations through the consideration of students’ cultural experiences, backgrounds, and interests. I also serve on board of our Gender-Sexuality Alliance, Phi Theta Kappa, as well as our Public Health Research Association.

As always, my messages are always open for anyone who wants to express their concerns/questions about our school, needs on campus that need to be met, or if you just need someone to talk to. My Discord handle is Rachel Abalos#0170, and my email is rabalos0@ivc.edu.