As an 11-year-old girl, she grew up working on farms with her family, picking apricots and peaches as early as 3 a.m. during the summertime. Her family got paid by how many pallets of fruits they had laid out by the end of each shift and split the money between themselves. 13 siblings worked tirelessly on these farms: five brothers and sisters, five cousins and her two parents.

In her free time, she would play and frolic through cornfields where her family raised pigs in the central valley smalltown of Modesto, California. Now, Brenda Thames is the president and superintendent of the El Camino Community College District. Initially, Brenda never had aspirations of becoming a college president and taking on the title’s many responsibilities.

Brenda’s parents did the best they could with what they had. Growing up she did not have access to everything a child could want, however, Brenda had everything that she needed and that was enough for her. As a first-generation college student, much of Brenda’s college- life experiences were discovered independently. She had to adapt on-the-fly by learning about financial aid applications and how to fill out required documents for dorm rooms and registration.

After missing out on UC Berkeley’s lottery system, she showed up on her first day of college without a place to stay or any money in her pockets. Left without options and a clear path ahead, she reached out and called her mother for help. Immediately after that call, Brenda’s mother had set her up with a place to stay thanks to her connections formed through their church.

UC Berkeley was the place that allowed Brenda to grow both personally and academically into the woman that she is today. Attending college is where Brenda discovered her passion for helping others to improve their livelihoods; a trait that would follow her throughout her entire career. Brenda said that she is a people person who enjoys watching people from afar just as much as she enjoys getting up close to know each individual and learning about their stories and needs.

Brenda would eventually graduate from Berkely with a bachelor’s degree from double-majoring in sociology and social welfare. Brenda would also go on to achieve many different accolades from a variety of colleges after her time at Berkeley. Brenda received two master’s degrees from USC, one in public administration and the other in social work from USC and lastly, she earned her doctorate from Oregon State University.

“Someone told my parents, if she goes to Berkeley, she can write her own ticket,” Brenda said. “For someone to tell your parents that as a first-generation college student…the significance and the weight of that opportunity was not lost on me and they were right. I was essentially able to leverage that [first] degree to open up many doors.”

After years of being accustomed to working with her family on different farms, The first job opportunity that Berkeley opened up for Brenda was in social work.

“I started out as a social worker and I was going to save the world and give back through social work. I wanted to spend the rest of my career helping people improve their lives and I thought social work was the way that I was going to do that,” Brenda said.

Through social work, Brenda started out doing county-specific investigative caseworker jobs such as working with Child Protective Services. Recognizing that the public’s perception of Child Protective Services is negative, Brenda enjoyed her time working with the organization due to its correlation with her passion for helping people.

“Most people hate Child Protective Services but I loved it. I enjoyed helping those families reunite and helping parents with getting to become better parents and helping children to adjust and navigate their trauma,” Brenda said.

After working for Child Protective Services, Brenda received an opportunity to work for the Corrections Department. She felt inspired by the idea of helping those who were wrongly convicted, however, a big change in her life made Brenda change her entire career course.

“I loved working in corrections until I had my kids, then working in the prison became a little less appealing. After I had my daughter, I had a different view. I was writing parole recommendations for people that I didn’t want out on the street or living next to me,” Brenda said. “After I had my daughter, I couldn’t be objective and that wasn’t fair to [the inmates] because they weren’t my clients and it wasn’t fair to me.”

Brenda is a married mother of two children, a daughter (25) and a son (18). Brenda holds her family very close to her. They continuously help inspire her to inspire others. From Brenda’s experience working throughout her entire career, including her social work, she hopes to pass on the values of humanity and respect to her kids.

“I hope that I have and continue to instill in [my children] that you always recognize the humanity in the person that’s sitting in front of you…and that you remember how important it is that you share that space with civility and respect,” Brenda said. “Sometimes you have to give up space to allow somebody else the equity they need to occupy the same space with you.”

With a renewed outlook on life that still adheres to her original dreams of “saving the world”, Brenda embarked on a new career journey outside the field of social work and into public education. Brenda accepted an opportunity at Modesto Junior College to become an adjunct instructor and also to direct TRIO Student Support Services, a program designed specifically to support low-income first-generation college students.

Brenda would eventually work at a total of five community colleges throughout the state of California, spanning over 20 years’ worth of experience. After Modesto Junior College, Brenda went on to work as the Director of Transfer and Articulation for the Los Rios Community College District.

After the Los Rios Community College District, Brenda moved on to American River College in 2009, where she started off working as the Director of Matriculation and Assessment, a position where she garnered a lot of respect and support from her colleagues. Eventually, when American River’s district started looking to hire someone for their vacant Department Chair position, Brenda won the position by write-in vote, beating out all other candidates.

Brenda also received her first administrative positions as Interim Dean of Student Development and later Dean of Counseling. After her time at American River College, Brenda would go back to Modesto in 2012 before accepting her first superintendent position as president of West Hills College in Coalinga, California from 2017 to 2021.

After some encouragement from her friends, Brenda got notice that El Camino College was looking for a president to replace El Camino’s previous presidential position held by Dena Maloney, who served as the college’s superintendent for five years before her contract expired in June 2021. Being more accustomed to the quieter small-town life, Brenda was initially hesitant about vying for the position.

“I cannot afford to live in L.A., I don’t want to live in L.A., I don’t even like L.A….and [my friends] kept encouraging me. When I started to look at [El Camino College], I saw how diverse it was, the beautiful campus. I saw some of the programs and things that El Camino was doing with social justice and equity,” Brenda said. “It feels like it might be a good fit.”

Equity was a big driving force for Brenda to prioritize the presidential position at El Camino College and it remains one now that she has the position. Although talks of equity have seen tremendous growth in recent years, Brenda views equity as a true actionable outcome more than its popularity as a word. Equity plays a huge role in Brenda’s dream to give back to the world.

“I came to join El Camino and what it was doing because it’s doing a lot of things that I believe in and I think there’s not a lot to fix here. Every place has got its problems but it wasn’t broken. You don’t get a chance to go somewhere and really take what’s done and move it to the next level very often,” Brenda said.

On May 17, 2021, Brenda was officially announced as the next president of El Camino College.

Stepping in to lead a college during the middle of a global pandemic is a hard task on its own, but adding the collective trauma from recent incidents of racial injustice and social unrest combined all makes that leadership role a tougher challenge, however, Brenda was ready and willing to take on the task at hand. She knew that the El Camino College community would require connection, support and healing.

“I think [the college] is doing some amazing work but I don’t ever want us to think that we’re done because there’s always so much more work to do. Some folks have been marginalized and disenfranchised for so long that we have to do educating and bring awareness through events and things,” Brenda said. “We also have to do some healing and I don’t know that we’re quite there yet.”

Brenda hopes that El Camino College can get to a place where all students that attend El Camino College can feel supported and accepted no matter their ethnicity, background or financial status.

Colleges throughout the state of California and across the nation are facing the same challenges that have been brought on by both the pandemic and racial injustice. Fullerton College’s Interim President Gilbert Contreras said that he and his administration are similarly prioritizing healing and a sense of safety in their community.

“On [Fullerton College’s] campus, there was a lot of difficult conversations around race following George Floyd and our participation around equity alliance through USC. There was a real need to reinforce our values through respect and collegiality,” Gilbert said, “We are actively redesigning our support services and our campus to meet the needs of safety and a sense of belonging for our community as they gradually return.”

Brenda said that part of her equity-focused plans at El Camino College is to hire a Director of Success specifically to help men of color due to men having lower success rates on average than women of color, in addition to adding more educational and support programs.

In her free time, Brenda is an avid reader that consumes mostly self-help books over all other genres. In her office, Brenda has a grand collection of books. Brenda reads books that highlight African American women’s contributions to American culture, books about teaching and engaging men of color in community colleges and most recently, she finished a book about establishing trust in all aspects of life called “The SPEED of Trust” by Stephen Covey.

Brenda got accustomed to working without keeping many personal items around because it was not allowed during her time working with the California Department of Correction Office.

Over her 20-year service to various community colleges around the state, Brenda slowly began adding more personal items from her books to the graduation plaques that she received from all of the colleges she attended. One personal belonging that Brenda holds very near to her is a picture frame drawing of her and her family that was illustrated by one of her mentors, Manuel Pérez.

“I know that [Brenda’s] close-knit relationship with familia is very important to her. I think many might interpret [the drawing] as a disconnect but what I learned from my relationship with Brenda is that it’s quite the opposite,” Manuel said. “I think Brenda loves and cares so deeply that she wants to ensure what she presents forward is precisely what she wants folks to know of her and what it means to bring others into her sacred world.”

Manuel, now Vice President of Students Services at Cañada College in Redwood City, first met Brenda while working as the Dean of Student Development at American River College in 2009. Manuel interpreted the drawing through Brenda’s words and experiences she shared about her family and envisioned the illustration in a way that most family portraits are depicted.

The illustration was given to Brenda as a parting gift in 2012 when she returned to Modesto Junior College to become Vice President of Student Services and Instruction. Manuel often refers to Brenda as his “hermana” due to their close relationship as colleagues and friends. They both looked out for each other while working as people of color in administrative positions and would constantly push one another.

As important as it is to form close bonds with colleagues from work, both Brenda and Manuel emphasized the importance of getting to know the student population that they serve both individually and collectively. The only way to know about a student’s needs is by talking with them and for students to reach out and speak with their administrative leaders.

“Getting to know administration and leaders at a college campus is one way to further anchor our humanity and the heartbeat that brings out our shared values. These moments to learn more about the stories, background and humanity of folks seen as holding authority in institutions is a way to destabilize power that becomes toxic,” Manuel said. “It’s a way to remember that we’re all folks trying to make our communities stronger.”

Since taking office in July 2021, Brenda has held multiple community-wide town hall meetings to discuss public matters regarding the campus and the college institution as a whole. Brenda is currently working with El Camino’s Student Services office to find a platform where she and Student Services can address students’ needs on a more private and individual level.

With a 10-year plan and vision set in place, El Camino College is where Brenda plans on retiring, with a total of 30 years of service with community colleges by the end of her career. Her ultimate goals for El Camino College are for the institution to become an Aspen Prize-winning college in community excellence, to erase the equity gap and for the college to be nationally known as an incubator and talent provider for men of color in both Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and in aerospace programs.

Having first worked on a farm with her family at 11-years-old to venturing out on her own as a first-generation college student, Brenda discovered a passion for helping people to improve their lives through social and a 20-year career serving five community colleges throughout the state of California, Brenda remains hopeful and excited on her never-ending pursuit to save the world.

“This work is like my life song. To impact 20,000 lives through giving back and making their lives and their communities a better place just for having shared this place with them,” Brenda said. “I think it’s saving my part of the world. That’s what I’ll say.”