Contra Costa Community College District transitions to new leadership
on October 22, 2026
After nearly 40 years with the Contra Costa Community College District — the last four years at the helm — Chancellor Mojdeh Mehdizadeh has announced she will retire on Dec. 30.
Her interim replacement until the end of July is Micaela Ochoa, who currently serves as executive vice chancellor of administrative services. She has been with 4CD since 2022.
While this change in leadership comes in the middle of an academic school year, several district officials expressed confidence that the transition will be smooth.
Ochoa has extensive experience in fiscal management and human resources. Mehdizadeh said Ochoa also has been involved in Governing Board meetings and is part of the labor negotiations team.
“I was really just deeply grateful for the trust placed in me,” Ochoa said.
President Diana Honig said the leadership team is strong, and she doesn’t think the school will lose momentum in its goals and initiatives.
‘I found myself and my voice’
4CD)
Mehdizadeh’s employment with 4CD started when she was a student.
“I went to Diablo Valley College because it was the only college that I actually envisioned going to,” Mehdizadeh said. “It really is a place that I found myself and my voice.”
She called her experience at Diablo Valley life-changing, adding, “I realized I love the community college system, because it has helped me find me.”
Mehdizadeh took over as interim chancellor in 2022, when her predecessor, Bryan Reece, resigned after a tumultuous 15 months on the job, during which he was twice placed on administrative leave. The board had raised questions about the way Reece handled requests for proposals, including disclosures about his connections to bidders, the Los Medanos Experience reported.
Mehdizadeh was appointed to the job full time at the end of 2023.
“It was evident that she genuinely cared,” said Joseph Carver, Contra Costa College academic senate president, “from the little things of making sure that she was always at the different colleges for all-college day, to the fact that I’ve never seen her interact with a person that she didn’t know by name.”
Mehdizadeh oversees the three colleges within 4CD, which have increased total head count from the previous three-year trailing average of 42,858, to the current head count of 45,503. The district operates with a $265 million budget, of which about $52 million is held in reserves.
Governing Board member Andy Li praised Mehdizadeh’s management of the district and its resources.
“She works hard, she’s honest. She has a high moral standard. She makes sure all the resources are well utilized, and really meaningful for students,” Li said.
“She brought this sense of confidence with her,” said Max Stemmle, Contra Costa College Associated Students Union president. “Whenever I talked to her, she was so positive and always had an amazing attitude.”
Stemmle hopes that the next permanent chancellor is a champion for diversity, saying, “One of the things that makes the community college system so beautiful, to me, is that we have just such a diverse class of students.”
Ochoa said she’s excited to carry on Mehdizadeh’s work, adding that Mehdizadeh established strong partnerships with the community, faculty, managers and the leadership team. Like Mehdizadeh, Ochoa said she will put students at the center of district decisions.
“I share the same values and the same commitment in my decision-making and my leadership,” she said.
The board will launch a national search for Mehdizadeh’s replacement in January, with a possible spring hire.
To celebrate Mehdizadeh’s retirement, the nonprofit foundations at each college within the 4CD started an Enduring Impact Campaign in the chancellor’s honor, to support students facing financial barriers to their education.
“I’m proud to say that I think the district is in a really good place,” Mehdizadeh said. “I feel super proud of that, and it actually helps me move on.”
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