BOARD OF TRUSTEES
STEVEN F. VERES
Member of the Board
Steve Veres is the immediate
past president of the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD) Board
Trustees. He has served as a Trustee since 2011 where he led efforts to improve
graduation and transfer rates as well as workforce and career pathway programs.
He led the adoption of the District’s Award-winning Clean Energy and Sustainability
Program and has presided over nearly $4B in facility improvements at all 9
Colleges. Under Steve’s leadership, LACCD has built more LEED Certified/
Energy Efficient facilities than any other Community College District in the nation. He is an advocate of the District’s Racial Equity and Social
Justice programs and led efforts to confront student transportation, student
hunger, and student housing challenges.
With over 20 years of public
service in the San Fernando Valley, Steve has fought for equity, civil rights,
and creating opportunities for disadvantaged communities. He is the son of immigrant working-class parents.
Steve was a student activist
at UCLA and worked as a teacher, college instructor, journalist, and news
editor. He is the former mayor of the City of San Fernando where he helped
improve the quality of public safety, housing, and recreation space. He is
knowledgeable in the transportation and water infrastructure needs of the
region having served on the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s San Fernando Valley Service
Sector Governance Council as well as the Metropolitan Water District.
Steve has also worked for the
California State Legislature having served as the Staff Director for Senator
Maria Elena Durazo, Senate President Kevin de Leon, and Assemblymember Cindy
Montanez. His legislative work efforts include making Community College
tuition-free, securing funding to build 17 new parks in Los Angeles, and
developing the new California Homeless Hiring Tax Credit. In 2014, Steve helped
negotiate the effort to triple California’s Film and Television Tax
Credit and make it more accountable to taxpayers. The bill was praised as one
of the most significant steps to protect California’s film industry jobs in the
past 100 years.
He is an appointed member of
the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy where he’s championed access to the
coast, land conservation, climate resilience, and connecting parklands to
working-class communities. Steve is also a volunteer member of the Friends of
the Los Angeles River Board of Directors where he
has advocated for
the cleaning up and the greening up of the river for all Los Angeles
Communities.
He serves on the Mobile Source
Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee where he advocates for Clean
Transportation funding and infrastructure and was instrumental in the
development of the Dodger express shuttle service from LA Union Station to
Dodgers Stadium.
He and his wife, Cynthia, are
raising their three daughters in Sherman Oaks.
July 28, 2022