ABOUT ALL CITY COUNCIL

All City Council Governing Board Member Positions 

• President -​ The president of the All-City Council shall be the officially recognized spokesperson for all policies and actions of All-City Council. Also the president shall chair All-City Council general and other meetings. The president has the power to break ties of simple majority votes among Delegates.
• Vice President -​ The vice president shall function with the powers and responsibilities of the president in the president’s absence. When the president is present, the vice president shall coordinate and oversee all ACC committee work.
• Secretary - ​The secretary shall ensure that the minutes and notices of each meeting are delivered to the adult sponsor for ACC as well as OUSD’s district wide student publication for immediate distribution, along with other All-City Council papers and information (i.e., the roster of the student body officers of all Oakland high schools for each semester). The secretary shall keep an accurate file and history of All-City Council meetings so that rapid and easy reference may be made to previous actions of the council. The secretary shall take minutes and read the previous minutes at each meeting.
• Culture & Climate Director -​ They shall advise the chairperson on any points of parliamentary law or by-laws. All action shall be guided by Robert’s Rules of Order, Revised. They shall be the point person for mediating all conflicts between Delegates, Governing Board members and other ACC affiliated persons. They shall be trained in restorative justice and be culture keeper within ACC.
• Media Director - ​The media director shall be in charge of all advertising of ACC including student website and OUSD district-wide student publication, scheduling outreach and class announcement at various schools, and coordination of outreach and recruitment of ACC members.
• Historian - ​The historian is responsible for maintaining records of ACC activities including taking pictures and filing accurate records of ACC events. The historian also shall ensure that the ACC body is keeping to the original vision and mission of ACC. If a member wants to impeach the ACC president, the member must bring the impeachment to the historian to begin the impeachment process.
• Health & Wellness Director - ​Responsible in organizing nutrition and wellness meetings at school sites to meet about nutrition and wellness issues on campus. Organizer is responsible for holding the district accountable in engaging students in wellness positions.
• LCAP Student Director (2 positions) - ​LCAP Student Director will sit on the Local Control Accountability Plan (LCAP) Parent Student Advisory Committee (PSAC) and will have a critical say in where money in their schools and in Oakland will be spent. The LCAP Student Directors will help ACC go over budget information and make informed decisions around OUSD’s budget. The LCAP Student Directors will be responsible for holding the LCAP student advisory committee accountable to their commitment and to their peers. This representative will report back to us what happens in the LCAP meetings to the Governing Board.
  • Please read more about what the LCAP (Local Control Accountability Plan) is and what that committee does HERE.
  • Here's a helpful infographic flyer overviewing why the LCAP is important!
• Student Director (2 positions) on the Board of Education: The representatives shall attend all Board of Education meetings. The student directors must make a report at each All-City Council meeting. The student directors must adhere to the following procedures:

• • Share and coordinate responsibilities with each other.
  • Be on time to Board of Education meetings.
  • Go on record representing ACC and soliciting ACC feedback on specific issues.
  • Have knowledge of Robert’s Rules of Order.
  • Should be briefed by the All-City Council but may report on activities of individual schools.
  • Should feel free to speak at Board meetings upon being recognized by the chairperson of the Board.
  • Ensure that the All-City Council receives a full accounting of all actions and proceedings that take place at each Board meeting.

 

Meet the 2022-23 All City Council Governing Board: 

 

President

Vida Mendoza

My name is Vida Mendoza, I am a junior at Life Academy and the president of ACC for the 2022-2023 school year. I decided to run for ACC because I feel we are constantly misrepresented by the leaders who are meant to be working for our benefit. As President, I intend to merge the gap between students and district members. Creating healthy conversations and relationships between youth and adults. Ensuring that students can advocate for themselves but also rely on their adult allies. Students have power and should use their power to create a district they can strive in because it's what we deserve

 

Vice President

Kennedy Rowe

My name is Kennedy Rowe [She/her] I am the vice president of ACC. I am a freshman at Technical high school. I decided to run for ACC because I had a school role model who really talked me into it as they saw my leadership capacity. Learning more about the work ACC has done and is going to do was interesting to me which is also why I decided to run. My goals are to really put my all into it and also help OUSD students to love who they are and take ownership of themselves.

 

Secretary 

Laiza Reconco

 

My name is Laiza Reconco. I am a senior at Oakland High School and the secretary of ACC for the 2022-2023 term. I am also an intern with REAL HARD, a fellow in EYC, secretary of Oakland High Schools Latinos Unidos, and have worked with organizations like CURYJ. I decided to run for secretary of ACC because I wanted to be more involved with school district work and I already had secretary experience with Latinos Unidos. I hope to help support students in having their voices heard and listened to, as well as support students who want to start work similar to that of ACC.

 

Culture and Climate Director

Marianna Smith

 

My name is Marianna (Maari) Smith (she/her). I am ACC’s Culture and Climate Director and a 9th grader at Oakland Tech High School. I wanted to run for ACC because I believe that change starts in your inner community. I want to work on improving my own school with my peers and then move into something bigger. ACC will allow me to strengthen and build the skills I want to get better at/learn. I look forward to sharing the skills I learn with other students in my larger school community.

 

Media Director 

Lauren McDaniels

Hi my name is Lauren McDaniels. I am a senior at Oakland Tech and am serving my 3rd term on the ACC Governing Board as the media director. I decided to run for ACC because I love speaking out, especially on behalf of the youth. I want everyone to see how powerful Oakland youth are rather than trying to tear us down. I feel that it's very important to speak up when you can and ACC has always given me the willpower. I just want to end off my last year making a difference.

 

Historian 

Zara Ahsan

Hello! My name is Zara Ahsan and I am a junior at Skyline High School. I am serving as ACC Historian for the 2022-2023 school year. I'm also a part of Skyline ASB, the OUSD Sustainability Advisory Council, and Youth vs. Apocalypse. I decided to run for ACC Governing Board because I think a lot of the problems our school district faces are due to a lack of connection between the students and the administrative/management branch of OUSD. I hope that, as a part of ACC, I can help to bridge that gap and advocate for students. Something I'm particularly excited about working on this year is implementing Oakland Youth Vote and aiming for high turnout in this year's school board elections.

 

LCAP Directors

Anevay Cruz

Hi my name is Anevay Cruz. I am a junior at Oakland High and I am one of the LCAP student directors in ACC. Some of the reasons I want to represent OUSD students is because I care about the different decisions that will be made by OUSD that will affect my peers and I. I want to be a voice for our students who need somebody to be their voice. I want to represent OUSD students because I want to show my peers that every community has a say in our district's decisions. I also think that it is very important for our students to be able to have a voice to speak for themselves. I want to make sure our students get a seat at the table when it comes to decision making. Another thing that I see is an issue is that people are cutting funds for things that matter to the students the most, such as RJ.  A solution for people cutting funds for things that matter most to students is having more students speak out on why these things shouldn't be cut. I feel that Oakland Youth Vote will really help resolve this issue.

 

Kiana Diaz

I am Kiana Diaz and I am one of the LCAP Directors. I am a current junior at Skyline High School. Although I am new to All CIty Council, I have experience participating in Youth vs. Apocalypse. I decided to join for ACC so I can help control my education and my community. I hope to accomplish raising students' voices and having more students connect with adults in decision-making spaces.

 

Health and Wellness Director 

Deric Chau

Hey y’all! My name is Deric Chau, and I serve as your Health and Wellness Director for the 2022-2023 school year! I attend Skyline High School as a Senior and I am part of many organizations such as Key Club, AYPAL, Uhuru Foods & Pies, and more! I only heard of All City Council through a documentary in my US History class, Homeroom, where I learned of even more organizing through school—I have only organized within organizations outside of school. One of my internship mentors introduced me to the governing board elections in which Health and Wellness Director seemed like a position for me. I struggle with eating, burn out, and other stressors, which I want to talk to and help students with. With my position, I plan to introduce ways for students & families to access more nutritious dishes at the dinner table, create ways for students to do self-care/things to help with stress, and much more! I can’t wait to see y’all throughout the community! ✌️

 

Student Directors 

Natalie Gallegos-Chavez

My name is Natalie Gallegos (she/her), I am a senior at Oakland High, and one of this year's Student Directors. I decided to be a part of ACC again because, during the last three terms on the Governing Board, I have had an amazing time serving as one of the LCAP student budget directors and student director. I want to be able to lift up young people's voices and network with different adults to have partnership conversations to address young people's needs. My goals as one of the student directors are to advocate and fight for our young people to have a seat at the table and be involved in conversations that will impact their education. In addition, I want there to be equity at our school sites to ensure that everyone can be successful. Apart from being a part of All City Council, I am also in Upward Board, Girls Inc., and part of my school's ASB team.  

 

Linh Le

My name is Linh Le (She/They) and I am a senior at Oakland High. I have served as President of All City Council for the past 3 years and I've always been an active leader since middle school. This year I proudly serve as one of your Student Directors.

Growing up I never felt the support I needed to thrive, including from school and parents. It felt like I had to be dependent on myself, especially being an SEA immigrant that is low-income. A key essential value I hold is making sure that young people have an equitable education where they have the resources in order for them to thrive, since I know how it feels to not have one. My identity is so grounded in the work I do with ACC, but with RJ as well. I will always continue the fight with our young people. I want to acknowledge that each and everyone of us have paved the way for our young people. It's a collective effort of the community, our families, and our friends from the past, present and future.

I'm so excited about what's to come in my future and Oakland's future. Even if I graduate, I'm always going to come back here, to where I belong. I'm ready to continue the fight and make sure that our students and young people have the tools and support they need to speak up against injustice. Let's make sure that "WE ARE AT THE TABLE, NOT THE MENU"!