Up until about 10 years ago, Dr. Daisy Gonzales, Deputy Chancellor of the California Community Colleges, couldn’t answer questions about her success and upbringing without crying.

In and out of foster care since she was two, she attended multiple schools, feeling like she was transient and recycled. At 13, she entered the foster care system for the last time and testified against her parents. A group leader told her she would have three choices: she’d end up dead, pregnant or in prison by the age of 16.

“I remember thinking ‘those can’t be my only options,’” Gonzales said.

Growing up around lawyers, judges, social workers, teachers—those were the adults who became influential people of her life. “They all gave me a front row seat to see how institutions operated and run our society,” she said. “Many things could have gone wrong. For me, those institutions were safer than my own home, specifically school.”

By the time she was 17, she decided to emancipate herself - and became homeless. People within various institutions offered a lifeline, encouraging her, challenging her and supporting her. She became resourceful—and empowered. A high school teacher took her under her wing, provided a place to live and told her she was going to college. Others asked her to lead study groups, help students write their college essays and get involved, like being president of the Chemistry Club.

“Something small like that was not so small,” she said. “Being worthy to help others was really empowering. I never saw myself as someone who was worthy of education or was smart enough, but they did.”

She went to Mills College, an all-woman college near San Francisco and graduated with a degree in public policy. At the University of California, Santa Barbara, she earned her master’s and doctorate degrees.

But the well wishes were difficult to take. “Finally being able to graduate, earn an education, and be in places where you have the power to change things, people would say “Your parents must be so proud,” and that would bring me to tears,” she said. “In many ways, I had not survived the trauma.”

Launching a Career of Purpose

Dealing with the trauma was a process. Gonzales counted on her mentors and drew on her own resilience, courage and talent to start her journey in education.

It wasn’t a surprise she started her career as a dual emersion third grade teacher because her third grade teacher was inspirational. “In teaching, I learned that when a diverse staff and faculty reflect the student population, students are engaged, the parents are engaged. When you have an environment of love and belonging, community culture grows.”

As a principal budget consultant to the California State Assembly, she managed $11.2 billion in state funds. “I didn’t even know how many zeroes were in a billion!” she said.

However, one of her assignments was to cut the social services department by 60%. “I went to my boss and said, ‘I can’t do this assignment… you’re cutting the resources for these students. I used to be one of those students. I used to be a foster youth, so I can’t do this. It goes against my values.’”

He calmly told her that’s why she had the assignment—because no one else would do it with the same care and compassion that she could.

That launched her belief that she could make a difference with her own education and lived experiences.

Working with trailblazing women inspired her. As the principal consultant for the Assembly Appropriations Committee, she worked with Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, the first Latina to chair the committee—and the person who had recommended her for the job.

Doing graduate work in education policy research at Stanford University, she was the first woman of color and only the second woman to research there. Her predecessor was Linda Darling- Hammond, who now sits on the California State Board of Education and was instrumental in building President Biden’s education transition team.

Lessons learned from each job led Gonzales to this position as deputy chancellor for the California Community College Chancellor’s Office, the state agency responsible for setting policy and guidelines for 73 districts and 115 community colleges. She was a former Aspen Institute presidential fellow, leads the system’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion work, serves on the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges and was selected “Woman of the Year” by the California Legislative Women’s Caucus and Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis in 2021.

“Now in my day-to-day work, my job is to help the next generation of institutional leaders.”

Her primary duties involve implementing and tracking the seven commitments outlined in California Community Colleges’ Vision for Success. They include decreasing achievement gaps, boosting transfers to California four-year institutions, and teaching necessary job skills so students can find good-paying careers.

She is guided by her daily affirmation: I seek to empower future leaders by removing barriers to their higher education. My legacy will be the transformation of public institutions to serve Californians with compassion and dignity.

Stepping Out of the Pandemic

When asked to serve as acting chancellor while Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley was on sabbatical, Gonzales was all in.  “Our goals and priorities have never changed. I’ve been a part of designing the vision for success from day one.”

But 2020 brought loss, tragedy and compounding crises that flooded the state: the coronavirus pandemic, systemic racism, poverty, job loss, homelessness. Wildfires surrounded their campuses.

“The reason that impacted community colleges is because that is who we serve—the entire state of California, 69% of all higher ed students,” explained Gonzales. “The majority of them are people of color and non-traditional, living in poverty, with extreme housing and food insecurity.”

“Shifting everything online was not done equitably for every community. The pandemic also forced faculty to go online in a very short amount of time, with very little support and that’s starting to show,” she says.

“I’m still optimistic and here’s why,” explained Gonzales. “What we’ve learned is not only can we bounce back from many tragedies, but we are also incredibly resilient. We’ve done that over and over again in the last three years.”

In the middle of the pandemic, they launched an “I can go to college” campaign, reminding people to keep enrolling. “We chipped away at financial aid reform. We have resources so students can get their textbooks, housing stipends, and transportation paid for. We continued building clear pathways to success.”

Diversity and Inclusion work didn’t skip a beat. Equity gaps were closing. They produced the first-ever “system impact report” that provided data, such as how many jobs the community college system provides (about 1 out of every 16 jobs in California) or how for every AA degree earned, a student makes $11,000 more than having only a high school degree.

The report helped set goals for 2022, including new technology to support faculty and professional development tools in the classroom. Additional office hours and resources for part time faculty were secured. They also fought to get the CARES Act to include veterans, students with disabilities, and undocumented students. They worked on social justice and equity policy.

“At the core of all of this, it’s about a cultural transformation. An education and the function of an education is to create a more just society and help people see the humanity of our students, no matter ethnicity, major, or zip code.”

Humanity Lives

Gonzales will never forget the trauma of growing up in the foster care system. But serving as deputy chancellor has brought her full circle and she’s ever mindful of the support she continues to receive, including from her partner of 12 years, who is also in the education field, and the teams she works with. She can’t say enough about faculty, staff and students she works with.

“Now that I’m 36, I know what my life’s purpose is,” says Gonzales. “What we do every day is give hope. What we just did during the pandemic was not a response to a crisis. It was an act of love.”