By Alaska Pacific University
Published: Nov. 15, 2023
What’s your academic background?
I have a BA in English Education from California State Polytechnic University, an MA in Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary and a Design Thinking Certificate from Cornell University.
Who inspires you?
There’s a colleague of mine, Bianca Vasquez, who is a community organizer in the Washington, DC/Baltimore area. She is a lead organizer for Beloved Community Incubator to create co-ops for women who sought refuge in the U.S., had children, and struggled to find jobs. She realized she needed to pull those women together to discuss what could be done.
Ultimately, they came up with a co-op model where they would clean houses. They started with four or five different women, and one of the women would stay behind and watch all the children while the others went out and cleaned. And then they would share their earnings among all of them. Eventually, these women would become business owners, which created a pathway toward U.S. citizenship.
Bianca is very much a person who I admire and look up to.
What was the best concert you ever attended?
When I was a sophomore in high school, I went to see a ska band called The Aqua Bats play a free show on the rooftop of Triangle Square in Costa Mesa, California. That was amazing because I loved ska music. I loved the feel of it because I listened to a lot of punk — a lot of riot girl music.
Coincidentally, my future husband, Cesar, was also at this show. A few years later, we were married.
Where’s your favorite place in the world?
I grew up in Huntington Beach. I lived really close to the beach itself. Every summer, I’d take the bus to the beach and hang out with my friends. I also used to be a deckhand on a sports fishing boat. I’d fish off the coast of Huntington Beach, sometimes the pier itself. There’s a smell in Huntington Beach, the water and the sand together, it’s very distinct and pleasant.
I just love Huntington Beach so whenever I go back to visit family my grandma still lives in the house that I grew up in.
If you could visit anywhere in the world, you’ve never been, where would you go and why?
I really want to go to Croatia.
What’s your favorite movie?
I feel like the movies that shaped me the most were Tim Burton movies.
What’s the last book you’ve read?
Walden by Henry David Thoreau.
