Governing Board
The Dixon Unified School District Governance Team is comprised of five locally elected public officials entrusted with governing the community’s public schools. In addition, the Superintendent also serves as a member of the district’s governance team and has responsibilities to support Board operations and decision-making.
Julian Cuevas
President
Term Expires 2026
Julian is the son of Mexican immigrants. His parents immigrated to the United States in the late 60s/early 70s. After working in the fields, these high school sweethearts later devoted their careers to public service and moved to Dixon in 1978. For 30 years, his mother worked for Dixon Unified School District (DUSD) and retired as a Teacher’s Associate III; dedicating her career to helping students and families – particularly those in the migrant and special education programs. Julian’s father, a Veteran of the U.S. Army, joined the Dixon Police Department and rounded his 37 years of service as a Lieutenant of the Solano County Sheriff’s Office – and later as a Criminal Investigator for the District Attorney’s Office of Solano County. As a result, Julian and his 3 siblings have called Dixon home and attended DUSD schools. Julian and his wife, Jessica, a Speech Language Pathologist, live in Dixon and have 3 children, Mateo, Sofia, and Camila.
Julian is an executive level government, nonprofit, and community relations professional with experience in federal, state and local government advocacy. In 2013, he joined the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley as the Education Programs Manager, and later the Director of Education Programs, where his work primarily focused on developing and implementing equitable education interventions, including family engagement, in partnership with local school districts. In 2015, his work was recognized by The White House for the development of the Latinos In Technology Initiative; a multi-million dollar effort designed to help students get to and through college, and address the lack of diversity within the hi-tech industry.
In 2017, Julian was appointed as the Legislative Policy Representative at the California Department of Education by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. In this role, his policy portfolio included early childhood education, curriculum, and state standards. He was later appointed to Director of Government Affairs in 2019 where he oversaw the legislative and budget priorities impacting California’s 6.2 million students and 300,000 teachers. He now remotely sits as the Inaugural Director of Policy & Governmental Affairs for the Inland Empire Community Foundation where he is leading the development and implementation of strategically lifting community voices around regional policy and budget priorities, particularly around education equity. Work that has since been recognized by the California State Legislature.
Julian was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Dixon Unified School District in 2022. He also sits as the President for the Dixon Library. He received his bachelors degree from the University of California San Diego in Political Science/American Politics and his masters degree from American University in Public Administration and Policy.
David Bowen
Vice President
Term Expires 2024
DJ Bowen III has taught mathematics in public schools since being hired on an internship credential in 2011. He has coached basketball and football, while serving his union as a site representative and on the contract negotiations team.
Bowen grew up in Vacaville and was inspired to enter the realm of service through the actions of his late mother, Bobbi. She helped to create a soup kitchen in 2000 through Epiphany Episcopal Church that still serves more than 200 hot meals on Friday nights; she also served as PTA president for the local elementary school, among many other projects.
Bowen used this as inspiration to serve as a full-time AmeriCorps volunteer while attending Saint Mary’s College, working at St. Vincent de Paul in East Oakland, Civicorps Schools in West Oakland, and designing engaging volunteer events on campus. Bowen found the most rewarding service to be assisting students in the classroom, and upon completion of his Bachelor’s of Science in Mathematics, immediately enrolled in a credential and Master’s program at Saint Mary’s in order to fulfill that dream.
Bowen would like to use his status as a classroom teacher to bring the concerns of parents, students, teachers, and staff to discussions and best serve these groups at Board level. Bowen lives in Dixon with his wife Heather, who is also a teacher, and children, Avery and Taylor.
Jewel Fink
Clerk
Term Expires 2026
Jewel Fink received a Bachelor’s Degree and General Secondary Teaching Credential from the University of California Berkeley and a Master’s Degree and Administrative Services Credential from Mills College in Oakland, CA. She has two adult sons who are business owners in Dixon; five adult grandchildren who live and work locally; and two great granddaughters who attend Dixon schools.
Fink was elected to the Governing Board of the Dixon Unified School District in November 2018. Her focus throughout her long career in education has always been: “Students First”. Fink worked for the Vallejo City Unified School District as a middle and high school teacher; a teacher/counselor in an alternative ed setting; and a district administrator. In addition, she was the Director of Community Service and Education for a community-based organization. These experiences convinced her that when all children have access to a high quality standards-aligned, rigorous curriculum and supportive programming, all children benefit and are more likely to reach their full potential.
In addition, another of Fink’s priorities is community involvement. She belongs to a variety of service clubs and organizations including the district’s LCAP Committee; Dixon Soroptimist International, Dixon Chamber of Commerce and the Dixon Historical Society & Museum. As the current President of the Dixon Women’s Improvement Club, she is working with representatives from the school district, the library, churches, non-profits, service clubs, and youth and family-serving organizations to create an all-inclusive Community Resource Guide which will be distributed to every household in Dixon to aid in identifying the many quality and diverse resources that our community has to offer.
Fink also believes that one of her roles as a board member is to work collaboratively with other board members to engage and involve the entire Dixon community in the district’s efforts to create a culture of inclusion. She believes that it is everyone’s job, not just school district personnel, to support young people. They are our future.
Board Policies
GAMUT is used by the Board of Education to organize and manage the District’s Board Policies. We invite all of our community stakeholders to access this site to better understand the work that is happening in our District.
Políticas de la Junta
GAMUT es utilizado por el Consejo de Educación para organizar y administrar las políticas de la Mesa Directiva del Distrito. Invitamos a todos los interesados de nuestra comunidad a acceder a este sitio para comprender mejor el trabajo que está sucediendo en nuestro Distrito.
Para ver las Políticas de la Mesa Directiva en español, haga clic en “English” en la esquina superior derecha del sitio web y luego haga clic en “Español”
Governing Board Committee Representatives
2023-2024 Governing Board Committee Representatives