FAIRFIELD – On Wednesday, March 19, 2025, the Asian American Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Student Achievement program provided a “Women’s Empowering Women: Representation through Story” dedicated to Women’s History Month. Four colleagues gathered to discuss gender equality and leadership, bringing their voices to inspire what it means to be part of student needs for Solano Community College.
Jennifer Costa
Jennifer Costa is the Director of Human Culture Food Bank in Contra Costa and Solano County. She started her academic journey by getting a bachelor’s degree in sociology at UC Santa Barbara and getting a master’s in counseling at St. Mary’s College. She started her first job working with people who are incarcerated. “Helping them with jobs, housing, and parenting classes were all the things I loved, but were very taxing,” Costa stated. She was also a therapist for the Human Resources department of Roots Community Health in Oakland. Costa expressed using leadership as a strategy, taking on what leads towards those outcomes that are surrounded by role models.
Dr. Kellie Butler
Dr. Kellie Sims Butler is the Superintendent-President of Solano Community College. During this panel, she shared with students and faculty members about what brought her here to Solano, and what drives her to be so involved with students as much as she is. Dr. Butler has been part of doing the work, but seeing herself as the future Superintendent-President of SCC was “not planned.” Dr. Butler also admitted that “she didn’t know that she was going to persuade herself to seek out a leadership role such as superintendent president.” However, she had the opportunity to meet another feminist leader at UC Davis who inspired Butler to take that role while being a superintendent at UC Davis. Having the mentors and faculty support galvanized Butler “to move ahead”. A mentor of hers once told her that “as you climb, reach back and bring somebody with you,”. Besides her academic journey, she continues to be part of student life here at the College.
Kristen Anderson
Kristen Anderson is a film instructor who has been at Solano since 2013. While originally from Los Angeles, Anderson went to film school and discovered “her love of film history”. Moreover, she claimed that she was “very lucky to inspire that with others at Solano”. While working in the industry, she saw something that still subsists with gender imbalance being simplified in film. Seeing fewer women in film production led Anderson to want to be a director. Now, as an instructor, she inspires her students but especially “loves inspiring women to tell their stories and have their voices heard” which engages her to encourage her students to get out there.
Jacqui Nguyen Greer
Governing Board Member Jacqui Nguyen Greer is from Vacaville and stated her academic experience at the panel. She attended San Diego State, majoring in Journalism and minoring in Japanese, due to the United States and Japan having a “wonderful relationship.” This led to having ambitions of working with CNN as a correspondent. “Do what you love and the money will come to you,” Nguyen told Solano students.
These questions being asked about our women faculty help us realize how hard women work and cherish the roles that they love. They support students to use their voices, inspire their future, provide leadership roles, and underscore gender equality at Solano Community College.
