Our Staff

For 27 years, I’ve lived in historically redlined Belle Haven, a neighborhood developed specifically for affordable housing separated by a freeway from the otherwise affluent Menlo Park, California. Belle Haven is also where Innovate began its work over 13 years ago. Living and raising my four children here means I don’t have to travel to the issues I work on – they’re in my church, coffee shop, and on my block. And it’s why I genuinely understand the challenges families face when systems aren’t designed with them in mind.

My experience goes back further, however, to my own childhood. As a Latina woman and daughter of immigrants, I didn’t just witness a lack of resources available, I lived it. In middle and high school I was bused to another city – our community didn’t have schools of its own – where my mostly Mexican, Black and Indigenous classmates and I were taught in trailers with a revolving door of substitute teachers. My parents did the best with what we had, but we were well below the poverty line; though, that was true for most everyone in our community. This is how I came to be committed to creating pathways for others, and why I hold a deep-seated sense of responsibility to give back to the communities who raised me.

Maintaining proximity is central in my leadership. I am active in coalition meetings, at networking events, and in places of worship, and I have weekly conversations with families and leaders representing marginalized voices to listen and learn about their needs and aspirations. I pride myself on nurturing these relationships, so the community feels empowered to hold me accountable for what Innovate does. Our organizers follow this example, representing the communities they serve and building relationships that are both meaningful and advance our collective impact.

Doing right by the community we serve means doing right by my neighbors, my children, and the generations that will follow. As Bryan Stevenson says, we have to solve problems by staying close and learning from the people who are most affected by the challenges we are working to address.