Meet Thea

Trustee Thea Selby is running for re-election to San Francisco Community College Board. Thea has been a proud member of the Board of Trustees for the past four years.

While President of the Board of Trustees in 2017, Thea led the team of Trustees that saved City College.

• Accreditation Reaffirmed: Thea Selby led the Board when the Accreditation Commission of Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) declared that City College was re-accredited for the maximum time of seven years.
• FREE CITY: Thea Selby led the Board during the first semester implementation of FREE CITY. The program, funded by the voters of San Francisco, allows all San Francisco residents to attend City College tuition-free.
• Permanent Chancellor: Thea Selby led the Board in hiring a permanent Chancellor for City College, the first permanent Chancellor in five years. The Chancellor has committed to staying 10 years to create and execute a strategy for the college.

Prior to being elected President, Thea served for her first two years on the Board as the Vice President of the Board of Trustees of City College.

If re-elected Thea would continue implementing improvements to City College.

• Make FREE CITY Permanent: If re-elected, Thea Selby would fight alongside her fellow Trustees and the Board of Supervisors to ensure that we get our fair share of Prop W monies so that we can continue to support FREE CITY program. San Francisco residents voted Yes to Proposition W to pay for FREE CITY, yet only a small portion of the funds were spent on CCSF. I believe CCSF should get its fair share of Proposition W to fund a permanent FREE CITY.
• Get a Student Transit Pass: CCSF is the only higher education undergrad institution in San Francisco without a student transit pass, yet CCSF has the highest proportion of low-income students and a majority of CCSF students take public transit. Thea Selby has already identified a grant that was used by SFSU and is working with the Chancellor to apply for it. She is also meeting with the Associated Students and environmentalists in CCSF to build the momentum for the vote. 
• Keep Enrollment Growing: Thea Selby supports block scheduling so current students can take more classes, properly supported hybrid and online courses, and a solid marketing program to keep San Franciscans aware of City College.
• Improve Campus: Thea Selby will help establish a Facilities Plan that renovates and upgrades sustainably. The plan will include a Performing Arts and Education Center, with the Diego Rivera Mural as its centerpiece, and the maintenance of buildings and grounds.

Passion for Public Education

Thea has a lifelong connection to public education. Not only did she attend public institutions from Kindergarten to UC Berkeley, Laney Community College (Oregon) and the University of Oregon, she has also sent her two children to public schools across San Francisco, from Rosa Parks in the Western Addition, to Aptos on Ocean, Presidio Middle School in the Richmond, Balboa High School in the Excelsior, and Lowell High School.

She was Vice President of Rosa Parks Elementary for several years, and worked to integrate the general education and Japanese Bilingual Bicultural sides of the school in what is now known widely to be an excellent elementary program.

Advocate for Public Transit

In addition to her passion for public education for all, Thea is passionate about providing good public transit for all the people of San Francisco. She serves as Chair of the nonprofit advocacy organization San Francisco Transit Riders, an organization dedicated to advocating for world-class public transit in San Francisco.

Neighborhood Activist

She started out in politics working within her neighborhood, and is a co-founder and board member of the Lower Haight Merchant + Neighbor Association.

She continues her work making the Democratic Party more democratic as the elected AD17 Executive Board representative for the California Democratic Party (2017-2019). Thea earns her living as a small business owner of a call-to-action and digital marketing and communications firm in San Francisco, Next Steps Marketing.

Mother of Two

Thea graduated from UC Berkeley with an AB and from the University of Oregon with an MBA. She is the mother of a 20 year old studying at UC Berkeley and a 16 year old at Lowell High School. Thea lives in the Lower Haight on Haight Street with her husband of 26 years, the aforementioned 16-year old son, and a beloved tuxedo cat Mitzi.