Leah LaCroix is in the race for City College of San Francisco’s governing board.
The 35-year-old Inglesider’s connection to the college began as a teen attending Voice of Pentecost Academy on Ocean Avenue who dual-enrolled in public speaking and music classes. Now, after years in the city’s political scene, including currently serving as the president of the San Francisco District 11 Democratic Club, LaCroix is on a mission to ensure the college succeeds for decades to come.
“I love the college,” LaCroix said. “I want it to be around for another 90 years, but I know that there's going to be some tough challenges ahead. We have to make sure City College continues to be an educational institution that's serving our community instead of just cutting our way through the challenging times.”
If elected, LaCroix would also bring decades of public decision-making experience to the college’s Board of Trustees. She served on the San Francisco Youth Commission, where she was the legislative architect for the Free Muni for Youth program and was the first vice chair and parliamentarian for the San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee from 2016 to 2024.
LaCroix is running for one of three open seats alongside Dr. Bunny McFadden and property asset manager Jeremy Lee. All are dedicated to protecting Free City, securing the institution’s finances and generating enrollment growth.
“I understand what it's like to be in a public decision-making body and kind of balance those hard conversations and being able to kind of come to consensus,” LaCroix said. “Even though there's going to be challenging days ahead and we're going to have some conversations where we might not all agree, that's OK. As long as we remember we're here for our students and our employees.”
The Ingleside Light caught up with LaCroix to hear why she’s running to be on the board of trustees.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Why are you running to be on City College’s board of trustees?
I grew up in the Ingleside. I was a dual-enrolled student at City College in high school for my junior and senior years. Just being in the neighborhood, I'm like, “Oh, I grew up on the steps of City College.” There's so much vested interest in making sure that the college is doing well. The college has gone through the accreditation crisis. The sentiment around City College is that it's still in a crisis, and that's not entirely true. Auditors gave the college praise recently, and many students are benefiting from Free City. I want to be able to help flip the narrative so that the college can grow enrollment. We need to be able to make sure that people can trust in the college and bet on our students so that the students can bet on the college in return.
What is one issue that City College currently faces and how will you address it?
Growing enrollment. There's a lot of talk about the college having stagnant revenue, and I think that is true. Enrollment numbers are low, and we're in a funding formula by the state that doesn't fully unlock the amount of resources that we need. So when we grow enrollment, we're able to grow the college a bit more and be able to offer more classes, and then students will be able to come back to the campus. I remember this time of year, you would be seeing City College students kind of up and down Ocean Avenue, and it doesn't quite feel the same right now, so growing enrollment is essential. That can happen in a number of ways: through the non-credit program because the college gets revenue from the non-credit program, and if we're not offering more non-credit courses, we're leaving revenue on the table. That is one way to get more money for the college because we have lifelong learners who just want to take a class and gain some new skills. I was a dual-enrolled high school student, and so I think partnering with our local high schools is essential to increase enrollment numbers and ensure that high school students have experience in college.
Was there anything during your time as a student at City College that you wished you had and want to implement as a trustee?
An easier, streamlined enrollment process. From having the idea to actually being in a classroom and then getting the credit, at the end of a semester, what's that process for our students, and how can we kind of streamline that to make sure that enrollment is as easy as possible or matriculation is as easy as possible and whatever path you want to take, whether you're non-credit or just coming to transfer for your degree or you’re a dual-enrolled high school student, you know the path that you need to take.
Why should people vote for you?
I understand the student experience. Also, as part of the immediate neighborhood, I understand how students kind of interact with the Ocean Avenue corridor.
I grew up in San Francisco. This is my home, so I want the city to succeed. I want City College to succeed. That's sort of the love that I'm bringing to this. I have the chops. I have the experience. I understand budgets. I understand that there will be difficult conversations ahead, but I'm ready to roll up my sleeves and do the work. I think over my political career, from the youth commission to today, I may not have always been in front of the camera doing all the things, but I show up, roll up my sleeves and do the work.
