I believe that everyone should have the right to a quality education and to have a village of people supporting them along the way. It breaks my heart that this is not the case for so many young people in our community and across the globe.

I am a first-generation daughter of Hispanic immigrants who came to the United States to start a new life for their family. This experience has shaped my beliefs about the importance of access to opportunity, education and has shaped my professional endeavors.

The value of a quality education has been instilled in me since childhood. I, personally, have benefited tremendously from the sacrifices my family made to invest in my education from grade school through graduate school. Generation Hope's work of supporting teenage parents to complete college and provide the necessary familial and financial support to achieve that goal resonates very strongly with me.

The initial spark for me around Generation Hope was attending the annual gala. I loved the power of the personal stories, and the obvious way the program is changing lives in such a fundamental way.

I have been committed to questions of education equity and community empowerment since the age of 17. As a first- generation college graduate in my mother's family, the specific mission of Generation Hope is very personal to me.

My personal philosophy is that everyone should have the opportunity to live their best life. I am passionate about advocacy for women as leaders and health and wellness. I believe that personal success is an inside-out job and there is an opportunity to impact generations to come.

My background and primary experience was working with TRIO students, (28 years) who are low-income first-generation students. TRIO Programs help to prepare this population for post-secondary education. This became my purpose and my "why" as I was low-income, first generation. Most of our student parents fall into this category.

I believe that everyone deserves not just a chance to succeed, but to see themselves reflected in the possibilities around them. So, I'll say it again and again: Representation matters. That is why I have spent years of my career amplifying the voices of multicultural and multiracial families. I want caregivers to feel supported as they raise the next generation with confidence and community.

As a former teenage parent, I align with the mission of supplying support to young parents to improve academic and economic outcomes holistically.

Circumstances are different for everyone, but everyone deserves the opportunity to dictate their own future and pursue their goals without unnecessary barriers standing in the way. This is why I believe the work that Generation Hope does is so important. By providing support, resources, and encouragement to student parents, Generation Hope helps create pathways to education, economic mobility, and long-term success. I am inspired by the organization’s commitment to empowering individuals to achieve their aspirations while building stronger futures for themselves, their families, and their communities.