Our speaker will be Dr. Rebecca Gomez, President of the American Association of University Women for Tustin, Santa Ana, and Orange. She'll be speaking on "Advocacy and Accountability." 

Rebecca “Beckie” Gomez served on the Tustin City Council from 2010 through 2018 and was re-elected in 2020. She served as the Area 1 Trustee for the Orange County Board of Education from 2016 to 2022.

Beckie is the two-time past President of the Greater Orange County Health Information Association.  She is currently the President of the Tustin-Santa Ana-Orange Branch of AAUW and is a Director for AAUW California. Beckie  served as the President of the Tustin Public Schools Foundation, Tustin South Bobby Sox, Tustin High School Academic Boosters, TUSD Coordinating Council, Thorman PTO and Currie PTA, and other non-profit boards. She was a longtime youth coach in softball, basketball, and soccer.  

Beckie has held various healthcare management and consulting positions, served as a tenured faculty member, and retired as Dean of the Health Science Division at Cypress College. She received the William J. Olsten Award for Excellence in Records Management and the Core Values Winner for “Commitment to our Shareholders” from Tokos Medical Corporation. The Orange County Register named her as one of the “100 Most Influential” in Orange County in 2020. She was named the 2021 Educator of the Year Award by the California Health Information Association and the Profile in Courage Award by the Orange County Democratic Party. In 2022, she received the Orange County School Board Association’s Marian Bergeson Award for Outstanding School Board Member and the inaugural Cesar Chavez Award from the Orange County Department of Education. She has also been honored by Women For: OC at their 2023 Suffrage Day Celebration.

Beckie received her Bachelor of Science degree from the UCLA School of Public Health. She holds a M.S. in Healthcare Administration, a M.A in Sports Management, and a Ph.D. in Law and Public Policy.

Along with her AAUW positions, she currently serves on the Boards of Planned Parenthood for Orange & San Bernardino County, the Leo Buscaglia Foundation, the Tustin Community Foundation, and the Defender’s Hub to support public education. She spends her “extra” time playing pickleball and softball and is an avid UCLA women’s basketball, softball, and football fan, along with Sparks basketball.

Beckie and her family have made Tustin their home since 1988