I know that OUSD has so much promise. We have amazing students, parents, and staff, and I’ve been honored to hear their stories over the years. Now that I am working part-time and my youngest is in daycare part time, I decided to jump into the school board race to connect the lessons I have learned from people all across Oakland to the policy created by our Board. I will continue our work to make Oakland schools excellent, just, and thriving places to learn, work, and play.

A Parent Who Will Make OUSD Proud

My loving husband Chase and I have been married for the past 18 years. We are the proud parents of three children, two attending Oakland public schools and one still in daycare.

Rachel’s Early Years

I was born at Kaiser in San Francisco, the daughter of an immigrant from the Philippines and a transplant from Indiana. I spent a lot of time with my family, learning how to play Mahjong and speak Tagalog poorly. My mom was a home health nurse and lifelong CNA union member at Kaiser Oakland, and I got to know the city best on my days off of school riding along with her while she visited patients. 

I started volunteering in high school in service organizations like Habitat for Humanity and Special Olympics, but it was at Planned Parenthood where I found my passion for reproductive health. I started as a birth control counselor and finally as an MA assisting with all levels of care and abortion support. Concurrently, I began working in activism for environmental and racial justice. After several years as an organizer for the Public Interest Research Group and Environment America, I became a nurse and then a nurse midwife to support people in vulnerable times of planning and starting families, seeking screening for cancer, or just trying to figure out what’s happening with their bodies.

I graduated with a Masters Degree in Nursing Midwifery and a BA in Ethnic Studies from the University of Washington.