Board of Trustees Biographies
Current Trustees
Mr. Romeo Agbalog
Romeo Agbalog is Executive Director of the Kern County Farm Bureau, an organization that has for over a century focused on advocating, educating, supporting, and protecting the interests of one of the top agriculture-producing counties in the Nation.
Prior to joining the Farm Bureau, he served as Executive Director of Kern Citizens for Sustainable Government (KCSG), a local non-profit public policy organization focused on developing and promoting policies that support economic growth, efficient stewardship of taxpayer resources, and accountability at all levels of government. Before joining KCSG, Romeo served as the Senior District Representative for Senate Minority Leader Emeritus Jean Fuller (R-Bakersfield).
Romeo previously held positions with the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce as Manager of Governmental Affairs, Community Resources Manager with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and Field Representative for a member of the Kern County Board of Supervisors. A lifelong resident of Delano and an alumnus of Bakersfield College, Agbalog has a wealth of board and governance experience, and a long history of community service ranging from Civil Service Commissioner for the County of Kern, and having held previous board positions with the Delano Union School District, the Foundation Board for Bakersfield College's Delano Campus Center, and the Bakersfield College Foundation.
Mr. John S. Corkins
Mr. Corkins represents the Porterville College service area, Area V, and was elected in November 2006.
He is the President of Research For Hire, Inc., and Corkins Farming Inc., a diversified Agri-Business Corporation; farms olives, kiwis, and citrus in Tulare and Kern Counties; and also owns commercial property in Tulare County.
He serves as a Governor appointee to the 24th District Ag Association Board of Directors and the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board. He serves as a member of the Board Finance & Audit Committee.
Mrs. Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg
Nan Gomez-Heitzeberg represents the Area III service area and was elected in November 2018.
She has over 40 years of experience in higher education, both in the classroom and as an administrator.
Her Kern Community College District career started as a professor at Porterville College. After 30 years as an administrator at Bakersfield College, she retired as Vice President of Instruction.
She brings to Kern Community College District experience in Accreditation and Early Childhood Education.
Mr. Yovani Jimenez
Mr. Jimenez was elected in 2020 to serve Area VI.
The area encompasses the communities of Lamont, Arvin, and portions of Bakersfield.
He is currently a case manager for Clinica Sierra Vista.
He has five years of experience in various capacities serving rural areas.
In 2018 he was elected to the board of directors for the Bear Mountain Recreation Park District. His commitment to rural communities includes volunteering with various efforts to help people living in rural community efforts.
Mr. Jimenez lives in Lamont, attended local schools, graduating from Arvin High School and California State University, Bakersfield where he earned a bachelor's degree.
Mrs. Kay S. Meek
Mrs. Meek represents the southwest Bakersfield service area, Area VII and was provisionally appointed in January 2003 to fill a vacant seat.
She served an earlier two-year term after being elected in a special election to fill a vacated seat.
Mrs. Meek's previous employment was with California Republic Bank as a Senior Vice President and is a former Executive Director of the Bakersfield College Foundation.
She was elected Board President in December 2006 and 2017. She is the current Chair of the Board Finance & Audit Committee and serves on the Resource Development and Facilities Committee.
Mr. Kyle Carter
Mr. Carter represents the Area I service area and was elected in November 2014.
As a Bakersfield native, Mr. Carter attended local schools including Bakersfield College. He has had a forty-two year career as a developer and homebuilder, as well as owned and operated two real estate companies, a mortgage, and an escrow company.
Mr. Carter is owner and co-founder of the Bakersfield Music Hall of Fame.
He also serves on the boards of the Alliance Against Family Violence, and the Bakersfield Homeless Center.
Mrs. Christina Scrivner
Christina Scrivner has spent most of her life working in, representing, and advocating for the area she represents on the KCCD Board of Trustees. Her work in marketing, philanthropy, and serving on the Tehachapi City Council have allowed her to build relationships across the East Kern sector that have fueled her sense of collaboration and mission.
Christina comes from a family of scientists and entrepreneurs with roots in the California high desert. When she was 5 she moved with her family to Ridgecrest, where she would attend school, including CCCC, enter the workforce and join community service organizations and at the age of 21, buy her first home. When Kevin McCarthy recruited her as a part of his Capitol team while he was serving in the California Assembly, Christina met and married Zack Scrivner. Today, they have four children — Zack, Robert, Jane, and Jacqueline. Her work for Houchin Community Blood Bank and Adventist Health Tehachapi Valley focused on community outreach and collaboration.
She is a Community Leadership Program appointee at Edwards Air Force Base, a founding member of the Ridgecrest Musical Enrichment Society, an advisory board member of the Tehachapi Art Commission and Chair of the Kern Economic Development Foundation.
Mrs. Johanna Guzman, Student Trustee
Mrs. Johanna Alicia Guzman is a second-year student at Bakersfield College majoring in Business Administration and Accounting.
During the 98th Session she served as the Director of Finance for Bakersfield College Student Government Association and is now the newly elected Kern CCD Student Trustee.
Johanna plans to use her role as student trustee to help drive change and make a positive impact on behalf of the students of the Kern Community College District.
Outside of Kern CCD, Johanna is a mother of two, one 18-year-old daughter and a 3-year-old son.
Previous Trustees
Mr. Dennis Beebe
Mr. Beebe represented the southwest Bakersfield service area, Area III and was elected December 2000.
He is owner of a residential and business security firm. Mr. Beebe served as the Board President in 2005 and 2006. He chaired the Board Evaluation and Accreditation Committees and currently serves on the Board Finance & Audit and Evaluation Committees.
Mr. Jack Connell
Mr. Connell represented the Area II service area and was elected in November 2018. Area II spans across eastern Kern County, and includes Inyo, Mono and San Bernardino counties.
He is a retired Naval Officer having served at sea in carrier-based combat operations, and led a flight test team in early development of the F-18 fighter aircraft. He brings to Kern Community College District broad community service experience serving as a director of the China Lake Alliance, South Fork Union School District, Kern Valley Resource Conservation District, California Association of Resource Conservation Districts, and Kern County Grazing Advisory Board. Mr. Connell holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from University of Texas at Arlington and a Master of Science degree in Operations Research from Naval Postgraduate School at Monterey.
Mr. Mark Storch
Mr. Storch representsed the Area II service area and was elected in November 2014. Area II spans across eastern Kern County, and includes Inyo, Mono and San Bernardino counties.
He is a retired Navy Captain and currently works with DCS Corporation in Ridgecrest as the Vice President of Engineering. Prior to his retirement from the Navy, he served as the Commander of the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division.
He brought to Kern Community College District his experience in a number of military leadership positions and wants to support the continued success of all the Colleges in the District. Mr. Storch holds a BS in Physics from Miami University and an MS in Aeronautical Engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School.
Mr. William M. Thomas
Mr. Thomas represented the Area I service area since September 8, 2016.
He was a former professor at Bakersfield College. Mr. Thomas was elected to the California Assembly from 1974 to 1978, and elected as a Congressman in California from 1979 to 2007.
On November 2, 2006, he was honored by having the newly remodeled Bakersfield College Planetarium dedicated in his name. Mr. Thomas recently served as senior advisor on the KCCD Bond Blue Ribbon Committee, providing bond education on the District’s successful efforts to pass Measure J.
Dr. Richard Wright
Dr. Wright represented the Area I service area and was elected in November 2014.
He is an educational consultant. A retired community college educator, Dr. Wright served as Bakersfield College President from 1983 to 1998. He also logged 11 years of service as a tenured faculty member in the Bakersfield College Psychology Department.