Candidate for
Member of the Board of Trustees; Los Angeles Community College District; Office 2

Tina's commitment to public service began at an early age. Her father, a minister, instilled in her the desire to give back to her community any way she could. As a volunteer in soup kitchens, as a mentor to young children in after-school programs, and active in Christian outreach services, Tina worked hard to help those around her.

Herself a community college student at Queensborough Community College, a branch of the City University of New York, Tina went on to graduate from Hofstra University in New York. Tina credits the community college system with providing the education and support to grow and meet her educational goals. This strong connection with the two-year college program is a driving force for Tina in her goals to improve the availability and standards of education throughout her career.

After graduating from Hofstra, Tina accepted a position in a program at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as a financial auditor, one of only twelve chosen from a nationwide pool. At the NYSE, Tina developed the skills required to audit major corporate financial records, working on some of the largest, most prominent corporations in the world and hold them fiscally accountable for their actions.

Tina Park's personal odyssey took a harrowing turn on the morning of September 11, 2001 - she was at work at the NYSE in Tower One of the World Trade Center when terrorists crashed a jet into it. Surviving her brush with death caused her to take a hard look at her life and reaffirm, for herself, that life is more than "getting by" it is about living each day to the fullest and giving back to your community on a daily basis.

When she moved to Los Angeles several years later, Tina continued her career as a financial auditor in downtown, specializing in fiscal accountability. Community outreach and social action was always a part of her life but it was here, in Los Angeles, that Tina took her first political steps. Her strong connection to the community college system inspired her to take a long, hard look at the Los Angeles Community College District, and Tina did not like what she saw. Tina learned that only 49% of students graduate and go on to four-year universities and that the quality of management and the programs offered was so inconsistent across the nine LACCD schools and 882 square miles they cover that it seemed that there was little or no accountability or effective oversight by the Community College Trustees. Tina found that over 90% of the Board's decisions were unanimous, unusual in any board situation. With responsibility for disbursement of more than $600 million annually across nine distinct, unique institutions, one would think the Trustees might find cause for more than "rubber stamping" decisions on the expenditures for our schools.

In late 2008, Tina decided to become a candidate for a seat on the Los Angeles Community College Board of Trustees. Against the incumbent Trustee and three other candidates, Tina received more than 48,000 votes from supporters across Los Angeles in the March 3rd citywide primary. On May 19th she faces one of her opponents in a special run-off election. Tina is thankful for all the support and encouragement she has received, and for all the Los Angeles citizens who have shown they believe in what she stands for and her ability to provide the thoughtful, professional leadership the Los Angeles Community College District and the more than 130,000 students throughout 36 cities in the greater Los Angeles area need.