2023

Majd Askar has served as the Vice President of Business Services at Moreno Valley College (MVC) since August 2021. In this leadership role, she manages a broad range of college operations, including facilities maintenance, campus safety, food services, bookstore management, building security systems, and technology services. Additionally, Askar plays an essential role in securing grant support and ensuring compliance with financial and contractual obligations. As a senior leader, she is dedicated to advancing MVC’s strategic goals while maintaining shared governance principles.
With a robust background in Business Administration, Askar began her career in 2003 with the Riverside Unified School District. In 2010, she transitioned to the Riverside Community College District, where she climbed the ranks to become Purchasing Manager. In 2015, Askar was appointed Director of Business Services, overseeing the Budget and Purchasing departments, further solidifying her expertise in educational administration and resource management.

Rebekah Kalleen is Vice President and partner at Murdoch, Walrath & Holmes and a legislative advocate for education entities including the Coalition for Adequate School Housing, the Community College Facility Coalition, and the County School Facilities Consortium. She has over fifteen years of experience in the State advocacy sector, helping clients from small associations to large companies navigate the State budget, legislative, and regulatory processes. She previously served as a consultant to school districts participating in the State School Facility Program, assisting them with accessing state grant dollars for facility projects. Rebekah has a B.A. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.

Evolving from the still thriving practice she launched in 2003, Stephanie
founded Collegium Strategies, LLC as a platform to extend her
knowledge and insight and to empower other specialists in the facility
planning-related field.
She founded her first company, Dovetail Decision Consultants, Inc.
following a 20-year career in Facilities, Furniture Planning and Sales
Management, specifically to assist publicly funded entities with crucial
aspects of FF&E planning, procurement and implementation as a client
representative.
Stephanie’s career journey began at Bechtel in Los Angeles where she
helped to shepherd a 500,000 square foot new headquarters building for
the LA Power Division. She went on to lead the systems planning team
for a Herman Miller dealership, and manage the interiors team of another.
She then focused on sales and sales leadership with furniture
manufacturers, culminating that portion of her career as a District
Manager for one of the industry’s largest manufacturers of educational
furniture.
She is formally educated in Interior Design (Foothill College and CSU Long Beach), Project Leadership (UC
Berkeley Extension) and a wide range of business-related leadership programs (Academy Leadership, Major
Account Management, etc.).
Stephanie is the proud parent of a recent community college and university graduate, and is a passionate
supporter of public education. She has spent 22 years serving her community institutions as an elected
official.

Marie Hampton is a dedicated, results-driven, and proactive Procurement and Materials professional with more than 25 years of experience in the public sector. She is well-versed in the strategic planning, contract management, risk management, project management, supervision, and development of procurement activities. Marie has spent her entire career thriving in the public procurement space; creating and implementing programs, policies and procedures for strategic alignment with the organization’s values and goals.

Heather Cade-Bauer has worked for Lake Tahoe Community College District since 2011 in various capacities. Since 2014 she has worked in the Purchasing Department overseeing all District procurement of goods and services. Heather has served on the CollegeBuys Advisory Committee since 2020, is a co-chair of the Northern California Community College Purchasing Group since 2021, and has been a CAPPO member since 2017.

Teri Turner currently serves as the Purchasing Manager for Sierra Joint Community College District (SJCCD), overseeing contracts, purchasing, warehouse, courier services, mail room, and auxiliary services. Teri has over 16 years of combined procurement experience in the public and private sectors. Currently, Teri is finishing up a two-year term as a Co-Chair for Northern California Community College Purchasing Group and a one-year term as a Co-Chair for the Advisory Committee for CollegeBuys. Teri also serves on the Professional Development workgroup. During her purchasing tenure, Teri has served on many solicitation committees with outside agencies, including janitorial supplies and equipment with CollegeBuys, elevator maintenance with UC, CSU, and CCCs, and copiers with the City of Sacramento. Teri believes it is vital as a procurement professional to continue training and be involved and connected with other purchasing professionals. Additionally, Teri has been a member of CAPPO and NIGP since 2016. In 2017, Teri obtained a Certificate of Recognition in Purchasing from Los Rios Community College.

Kim Simonds is the Purchasing Supervisor at MiraCosta College. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Organizational Leadership from Colorado State University and a Master of Public Administration from California State University, Long Beach. She has over 20 years of procurement experience in the California Community College System. In the 13 years she has been with MiraCosta College, she has specialized in Public Works/Construction including related professional services and Contract Administration.

Kim Aviles started her professional career in public purchasing in 2019 as an assistant in the Procurement Department of her alma mater, San Francisco State University. From there, Kim became a temporary buyer for the University. Upon graduation, she went into private sector purchasing for a commercial real estate firm. In 2022, Kim went back to serving her community as a full-time buyer for San Mateo County Community College District where she is now the interim senior buyer. As the senior buyer for the district, Kim is in charge of managing the district’s fixed assets, the Xerox fleet, as well as the purchasing for: Cañada College, the ITS department, 2 athletic centers, and the district’s radio station – KCSM. When Kim isn’t crushing it at work, she can be found hiking, whipping up culinary masterpieces in the kitchen, or getting lost in a good book.

Jesse currently serves as the Assistant Vice Chancellor of Information Technology Services at Rancho Santiago Community College District, where he is responsible for the overall leadership and administration of the Information Technologies Services Department. Jesse oversees all aspects of information technology, including enterprise applications, infrastructure and telecommunication services, cloud computing, data analytics, academic technology, and information security and compliance.
Jesse has over 23 years of Information Technology experience in a variety of industries, including 16 years in various IT management and supervisory roles, 12 of which have been within higher education. Jesse holds an MBA with focus on Information Technology, Management and Business strategy and a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, as well as ITIL, CISOA and EDUCAUSE Leadership Institute certifications.

Sherman is a principal of Public Agency Law Group. Sherman’s practice is devoted to representing public education institutions in construction, purchasing, facilities and general business matters. He has decades of experience assisting CCDs in navigating the confusing complexities of public procurement laws, rules and regulations. He is a member of the LA County Bar Association and is admitted to practice in all California state courts, all United States District Courts in California and the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.