About Zima
Zima Creason is a parent, advocate, and businesswoman. She serves as the Executive Director of the California EDGE Coalition and she was elected as a San Juan Unified School District Governing Board Member in 2018. She also serves as a California Democratic Party Delegate and is a member of the Blue Ribbon Commission on the Establishment of a Sacramento County Women and Girls Commission. At EDGE, she works to address the skilled workforce shortage, create pathways to the middle class, and to advance shared prosperity for all Californians. She is committed to stakeholder empowerment and coalition building to establish and sustain thriving communities. Zima has worked in the policy field since 2001 and much of her work has focused on equity as it relates to mental health policy as well as stakeholder outreach and engagement. She is dedicated to supporting people to avoid crisis outcomes, social justice, and for all Americans to have access and opportunity to achieve the American Dream regardless of their zip code, culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, health/mental health status, gender identification and/or who they love.
As our advocate Zima will:
• Represent our parent stakeholders – No other current SJUSD Board Member has a child attending a district school
• Apply her expertise in mental health education and policy to build psychologically healthy, safe, and supportive learning environments for students, and workplaces for teachers, staff, and administrators
• Employ her experience in workforce development to support students in securing jobs that provide family sustaining wages and benefits
• Empower student stakeholders to have a meaningful role in the determination of onsite and district policies, practices, and curriculum
• Prioritize student safety including cyber safety, after school traffic, and safety from school violence
• Ensure transparency – Even when things go wrong, even when it is hard
• Expand efforts to improve academic outcomes