“A History of Women at De Anza”
For Women’s History Month
WRAC Opening Event
March 4, 2026 | 10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 10:30-11 a.m. |
Opening Ceremony
|
| 11-11:30 a.m. |
Morning Keynote: Mia Hernandez “Before It’s History, It’s a Story: How Our Stories Shape the Systems We Build” |
| 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. |
Drum Workshop Drum Circle Workshop: Join us for a special drum circle and platica with M. Zamora and the Wakan Wiya Two Spirit Drum. Using the form of the drum circle, Zamora will guide us through four quick rounds of our own prayers, intentions and dreams for the future of our campus communities, our families and All Our Relations. We invite everyone to sit at the drum to invest your energy in this collaborative visioning and healing work. |
| 12:30-1 p.m. |
Lunch and Resource Fair Resource tables will be set up around Conference Rooms A and B. |
| 1-2 p.m. |
Afternoon Fireside Chat: Rowena Tomaneng "Her Stories, Our Futures: Transnational Feminisms and the Power of Education at De
Anza” |
| 2:15-3 p.m. |
Closing and Acknowledgments |
Blessing: Join About Mia Hernandez
Mia X. Hernandez is a Bay Area Xicana poet, racial equity policy analyst and proud
alum whose work bridges storytelling and systems change. Her journey began at De Anza
College in the Leadership and Social Change program, where she engaged in student
organizing for educational equity through the Vasconcellos Institute for Democracy
in Action, Latino Empowerment at De Anza (LEAD) and the De Anza Student Government.
Her policy advocacy efforts as a member of the inaugural Public Policy School cohort
contributed to statewide advocacy that helped shape the California College Promise
Program.
She later earned a B.A. in Community Studies from UC Santa Cruz, and worked in housing justice and civil rights, including leading fair housing investigations at Project Sentinel. Today, Mia serves as a senior executive analyst with the City of San José Office of Racial and Social Equity, partnering with departments to embed equity into city policies and programs.
Alongside her policy work, Mia is a poet and storyteller whose writing explores identity, grief, healing and collective resilience. She believes transformational change is built not only through equitable public policy, but also through the stories we carry forward together.
About Dr. Rowena M. Tomaneng
Dr. Rowena M. Tomaneng has been a multicultural educator in the California Community
Colleges for 30 years. She has served as deputy chancellor for the California Community
Colleges since 2024, responsible for implementing the Vision 2030 goals of equitably
increasing student access, success and support through three strategic directions:
Equitable Baccalaureate Attainment, Workforce and Economic Development, and Generative
AI and the Future of Learning. Her responsibilities include overseeing seven divisions
that support 116 colleges and 2.2. million students.
Prior to joining the Chancellor’s Office, Dr. Tomaneng served as president of San José City College (SJCC) in the San José-Evergreen Community College District from 2020-2025 and president of Berkeley City College (BCC) in the Peralta Community College District from 2016-2020. Dr. Tomaneng previously served in multiple roles at De Anza College, including division dean, associate vice president of instruction, and faculty in English, Intercultural Studies, and Women’s Studies.
Beyond the Chancellor’s office, Dr. Tomaneng serves on the Asian Pacific Americans in Higher Education (APAHE) Board of Directors, the Board of Directors of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), the American Council on Education Strengthening Institutions Roundtable and the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC). Dr. Tomaneng's teaching, research and publications explore human rights, social movements, transnational feminism and racial equity in education.
A first-generation immigrant from the Philippines and community college transfer student from Cypress College, Dr. Tomaneng received her Ed.D. from the University of San Francisco's School of Education; M.A. in English from UC Santa Barbara; and B.A. in English from UC Irvine.
About Wakan Wiya Two Spirit Drum and M. Zamora
*Wakan Wiya (Sacred Woman) Two Spirit Drum is our Native American drum founded and led by IndigeQueer community in the Bay Area.
Our drum was gifted to us to support access to drum medicine for our IndigeQueer and
Two Spirit peoples, our friends and familia, so that we might return to our Native
drum traditions where healing medicine is for all. Our intertribal circles are open
to everyone, while always centering Two Spirit and IndigeQueer QTBIPOC people and
their healing. We ask everyone who attends to be respectful of this focus. Follow
the Two Spirit Drum at WakanWiyaDrum on Instagram. To receive notices about additional programming, follow xochicalli.IndigeQueerMedicine on Instagram.
*Drumkeeper M. Zamora is a Chicana, Yaqui and Tongva IndigeQueer feminist educator and community organizer.
Their ancestors come from the Los Angeles Basin and northern Mexico’s Sonora and Chihuahua
regions. They have served as ceremonial singer/drumkeeper in their Two Spirit community
for 20 years. Zamora has led several drums. In 2024, Zamora brought the Wakan Wiya
Two Spirit Drum to Xochicalli-House of Flowers, where it is now the drum in residence, supporting healing medicine workshops for
Bay Area QTBIPOC communities. Zamora has taught ethnic studies, Chicana/o Latina/o
studies, and gender studies and feminist theory at California State University East
Bay, University of San Francisco and Stanford University. Zamora currently serves
on the volunteer Board at Queer Cultural Center, and is teaching a winter 2026 course
on "Women of Color in the U.S." at De Anza College, with an emphasis on Chicana-Indigena
feminisms.