Presenter Profiles

Quinteto Latino & Castellano Family Foundation

Armando Castellano is a musician, arts advocate and philanthropist who resides in the Silicon Valley where he wears many hats. As a French horn player he performs professionally in regional orchestras and chamber ensembles throughout the Bay Area. Much of his time is spent managing and performing with his own chamber ensemble, Quinteto Latino. This music organization focuses on building community through Latino Classical Music. They specialize in the performance and advocacy of Latino composers and consistently advocate on behalf of classical musicians of color. As a music instructor and teaching artist he has taught in both English and Spanish at venues such as San José City College and at many bilingual schools and institutions. As a philanthropist, he is a strong advocate for access to quality arts education for all and community based philanthropic practices. He is proud to work with the Castellano Family Foundation to fund non-profits in Silicon Valley focusing on issues in education, Latino leadership and the arts.

President, Latino Education Advancement Foundation

Edward Alvarez has extensive background and experience in the education sector. His education experience includes services on various advisory committees, including the Eastside Union High School District and the California Community Colleges Advisory Committee on Minority Affairs. He was elected to the Eastside Union High School District Board of Trustees and served a seven year term during which the District constructed 8 high schools. He served a 7 year term on the Board of trustees of Santa Clara University as well as the Board Real Estate and Finance Committee; he is a trustee Emeritus of the University as well as a member of the Role Model Board of Trustees, an elementary school mentor program. During his law practice tenure, he represented the Mission-DeAnza Community College District and was instrumental in the information of the formation of the Mission-DeAnza Community Foundation, including the creation of enabling legislation required by law.

Professor, San Jose City College

Director, LEAD Program

Erin Kimura-Walsh has overseen the LEAD Scholars Program at Santa Clara University since 2009 and is currently Director of the program. As the Director, she engages in the strategic planning for the program while overseeing the day to day operations. She plans the long-term growth and development of the program, including programming, courses, fundraising and strategic partnerships.

Estrella Ramirez

Director & Staff Psychologist, Cowell Center

Dr. Estrella Ramirez is a licensed psychologist. Her educational background includes a Bachelor’s degree from the University of California at Santa Barbara, a Master’s degree in Social and Personality Psychology from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling Psychology from the University of Southern California.  Her dissertation explored racial identity development for multiracial persons and is committed to multiculturalism and providing culturally competent care.  She has experience working in a variety of settings including university counseling, community mental health, and three years at an eating disorder treatment center.   Dr. Ramirez has an integrative approach to therapy, weaving together client-centered, psycho-dynamic, internal family systems, and relational interventions. She has a warm, personable, and energetic style. She strives to help her clients reconnect with their emotions in a genuine way and believes that connection to self and others is an integral part of a fulfilling life.  In addition to eating disorders, she is interested in working with students on interpersonal issues, identity formation, trauma, recovery, and anxiety. She is also trained to provide EMDR therapy.

VP of Enrollment Management

As VP for Enrollment Management, Eva serves on the president's cabinet and oversees the operations of undergraduate admission, university financial aid, and enrollment services. Eva worked for ten years in Latino media as a leader in ad sales and marketing for several start-up operations launching into Latin American and the U.S. Hispanic market, including Fox Latin American Channel, USA Networks, Discovery Networks, and El Sition.com. Eva received her backelor's degree in economics from Yale and master's in education administration from Santa Clara University.

Account Manager, Creative Media Strategy, LinkedIn

Gabriel has over 10 years of strategic partnership and media production experience. After graduating from San Jose State University, his career in media began as a music video producer and editor in the Hip-Hop and R&B scene. During this time, he also led professional development workshops at tech-ed conferences as a LEAD Educator for the Adobe Youth Voices program in San Jose, CA. Upon completing his Master's program at Stanford University, Gabriel joined the lecturing team at the School of Design at Stanford University while operating his own media agency, producing videos for Silicon Valley's top technology companies. Currently, he is an Account Manager on the Creative Media Strategy team at LinkedIn in Sunnyvale, California. As a first-gen college student, Gabe kicked off his own academic journey at Delta Community College in his hometown of Stockton, CA. Currently, he volunteers his time speaking to students and sharing tools and strategies that have helped him uncover hidden opportunities and intentionally design his academic and professional career path.

President, Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley

After graduating with a degree in Political Science from Santa Clara University, Gabriela spent over 10 years supporting organizations and causes in the Bay Area that spoke to her deep-rooted passion for social justice and social change. As a dedicated philanthropy professional at the Koret Foundation, she enjoyed supporting institutions and organizations that contributed to a caring and vibrant community. In addition, she has worked as a Communications and Marketing consultant, has managed community engagement events and special events, and even ran a political campaign!

Government Affairs & Public Policy Manager ll Google LLC

Javier joined Google in 2016 and is currently the Head of California Local Government Affairs & Public Policy. In his current role, he leads the company’s engagement with local policymakers, regulators, and other third-parties in the formation of public policy. Javier has more than 15 years of experience in government relations, community affairs, and public policy. Prior to joining Google, he was senior legislative director for a statewide business trade association. Javier previously served as a chief of staff, district director, and policy and community affairs advisor to several state and local elected officials. Born and raised in downtown San José, Javier attended local K-12 public schools and graduated from Santa Clara University with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science.

Chief Of Staff American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)

José A. Cabrales serves as the American Association for State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) vice president and chief of staff. Cabrales also recently served as the interim executive director for AASCU Consulting. Prior to these roles, he worked as an AASCU senior director of student success programs and operations, where he provided strategic vision, leadership, and support for developing and building a plan for the launch of a student success strategy.

Prior to AASCU, Cabrales worked as a senior associate for higher education practice at The Education Trust. Cabrales worked with and through a network of regional comprehensive institutions that serve significant numbers of low-income students and students of color to improve student success and close completion gaps. Cabrales has also worked as a program manager for community engagement at Excelencia in Education. While at Excelencia, Cabrales managed the outreach and technical assistance to support 13 communities working to increase Latina/o/x postsecondary achievement and degree completion. Cabrales brings to this work approximately 20 years of professional higher education, nonprofit, advocacy, and association experience.

As a first-generation college student and a native of Watsonville, California, Cabrales earned a Ph.D. from Iowa State University in educational leadership and policy studies, a master’s degree from Michigan State University in student affairs administration, and a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Santa Clara University.

Jennifer Gonzalez is a recent graduate of Golden Gate University School of Law. She took the California Bar exam this past July 2021. She aspires to become a Public Defender and protect marginalized folks who are being caged by our oppressive system under the misconceived notion that that is justice.

Throughout her career, she has held Legal Clerkship positions at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office, the Santa Clara County Office of the Public Defender and the Alameda County Public Defender's Office. There, she has conducted in and out of custody client interviews, drafted dozens of motions, conducted Preliminary hearings, appeared on the record, handled her own cases, second chaired a Felony trial, among other things. On campus, she was on the National Mock Trial Team, the Co- Vice President of La Raza, and a Teaching Assistant for Torts.

Recently, Jenn assisted the Immigration unit at the San Francisco Public Defender's Office in drafting bail motions and advocating for the release of folks in immigration detention centers.

Prior to Law School, she was a Legal Assistant at the Law Office of Patricia Castorena. There she worked on family-based immigration cases. She graduated from Santa Clara University in 2017. During her time at SCU, she was involved in Residence Life as a Community Facilitator, and Assistant Resident Director. She was a student assistant in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions, and was heavily involved in the Multi-Cultural Center, as well as the Ethnic Studies Department.

Academic Advisor, Drahmann Advising Center

Lisa Osteraas was born and raised in the Bay Area and received her Bachelor’s degree in  Mass Communications from UCLA.  The daughter of two educators, she initially pursued teaching as her career path.  Despite her love of children, she realized teaching elementary school was not a good professional fit and she decided to make a change. Soon after, Lisa was hired as the office manager for the Communication Department at SCU, and knew immediately that she had found her calling in higher education.

Director of Diversity, Inclusion, and Outreach, Undergraduate Admission

Lorenzo is originally from a very small town with eight graduating seniors in his public high school class. Coming from a close-knit community, he is familiar with the assumptions and fears one may have when considering leaving town for college. Reflecting on his own journey of college, he aspires to clarify the daunting experience for other first-generation students that he once faced himself. Lorenzo has over ten years of experience in college advising and currently oversees new initiatives.

Associate Dean, SCU School of Education

Marco A. Bravo, Ph.D., received his bachelor's degree from Santa Clara University (1994) and received a Masters degree in Human Development and Psychology from Harvard University (1995) where he conducted research in the areas of bilingualism and early childhood reading development. In 2003 Dr. Bravo completed his doctoral studies at the University of California Berkeley Graduate School of Education in Language, Literacy and Culture. He was a Post-Doctoral Fellow (2003) at the Lawrence Hall of Science where he authored several children's science trade books as part of a research and curriculum development project aimed at testing the possibilities and limits of science and literacy integration.

Partner & Director of Impact, Career Launch

Marieli Rubio is a Partner and Director of Impact for Career Launch. As a first-generation college student at Santa Clara University she was taught the Career Launch Method directly from Sean when she was a sophomore. Marieli immediately began to create a professional network from scratch. In doing so, she earned a competitive internship within a civil engineering division of a prominent construction company between her sophomore and junior year. Marieli reflects, “It was a life-changing experience, it opened my eyes to the realities of what I was learning in the classroom and it increased my self-confidence for my career going forward.”

Family Physician & President & CEO of The Molina Foundation

Dr. Martha Molina Bernadett is a family physician and member of the founding family of Molina Healthcare, a Fortune 500 company and one of the largest Hispanic-owned business in the United States. She previously served as the company’s executive vice president of research and innovation. She has provided consultation to hospitals, health systems and municipalities across the nation related to cultural competency and effective cross-cultural communications.

She founded The Molina Foundation in 2004, a 501(c)(3) public charity that seeks to reduce disparities in access to education and health. The foundation carries on her parents’ legacy of promoting education. The foundation has provided more than 5 million new books to programs and schools that serve low-income and at-risk families, including many with limited English proficiency. Dr. Bernadett serves on the Smithsonian National Latino Board.

Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch Wealth Management

Oscar Robles is a Financial Advisor at Merrill Lynch in Napa and a senior partner of the Gonzalez Group one of the most diverse Private Banking and Wealth Management teams working at Merrill today. A key focus of his practice is working with emergent Latino and Hispanic professionals, entrepreneurs, businesses, and their families.

Oscar also serves on the Board of Bank of America’s Hispanic Organization for Leadership in Advancement and is an executive Board of Community Health Initiative, an organization whose mission is to improve the health of children, families and seniors by providing access to healthcare, locally, and statewide. In addition Oscar is an active member and sponsor of various organizations including, Sonoma Vintners and Growers Association, Mexican American Vintners Association, San Francisco La Raza Lawyers Association, and San Francisco Bay Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

VP & Treasury Manager, Bank of America

Patrick Thompson is the Client Education Team Leader for Global Treasury & Operations, where he leads the North America West team of CashPro training professionals. CashPro is a comprehensive platform utilized by companies and organizations worldwide for managing their banking relationships, making payments, receiving funds, investing excess liquidity and viewing account balances in real time. Patrick’s Client Education team’s role is to facilitate onboarding new and existing companies to the CashPro banking platform while helping these companies adopt the new banking platform into their existing banking models. This team’s prides itself on teaching efficiency and effectiveness of banking with this Bank of America platform while enhancing companies banking capabilities.  Additionally, Patrick served as the Finance Chair for the first Northern California Chapter of the Employee Network the Black Professional Group (BPG) from 2008-2010 then moved into the Hispanic Organization for Leadership in Advancement (HOLA) as that employee network re-launched in the Bay Area. Patrick is currently serving as the San Francisco Bay Area Co-Chair for HOLA. HOLA is committed to making Bank of America the best place for Hispanic/Latino employees to work and grow professionally by inspiring and fostering an inclusive environment for all employees in support of the bank’s purpose and strategy.

President and CEO, Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley

Ron Gonzales is the President and CEO of the Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley. The Foundation is dedicated to improving the quality of life for Silicon Valley Latinos. Gonzales has over 40 years of technology and public policy experience. Prior to leading the Hispanic Foundation, Gonzales was Founder, Chairman and CEO of Presencia, LLC which provides marketing and sales consulting services. He also served as Mayor of San José, the Capital of Silicon Valley and the nation’s 10th largest city from 1999-2006. His achievements included nationally recognized initiatives for strong neighborhoods, improved public education, and effective solutions to affordable housing and regional transportation projects. Mayor Gonzales may be best known for championing the extension of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to San Jose and Silicon Valley. So much so that former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown nicknamed him “Mayor BART”.

Director of Education & Workforce, Silicon Valley Leadership Group

Sara Garcia is the Director of Education and Workforce Development at the Silicon Valley Leadership Group. Through legislative advocacy, programmatic efforts, and partnership with local education agencies, the team strives to ensure that our future workforce is reflective of the diversity and talent present in Silicon Valley. Sara leads our K-12 policy and programmatic efforts on the team’s cradle to career model.

Founder of Dreamers Roadmap, Girl Scouts of NorCal Board Member & incoming SCU transfer student

Sarahi Espinoza Salamanca is the Founder and CEO of DREAMers Roadmap, a mobile app platform that helps undocumented students navigate the necessary resources to access higher education. This is Sarahi’s project for the past 4 years within a longer trajectory of activism within and for the undocumented community, which has placed her in the spotlight of continued conversations centered on national immigration policy. Sarahi was a Champion of Change at the White House in 2014, has received 4 House of Representatives Awards, and was named in Forbes 30 under 30 in 2016. A former undocumented student who once had to drop out of school to support her family, Sarahi’s personal experience informs her unwavering vision: to help hundreds of thousands of students eliminate the barriers to success and achieve their full potential. More recently Sarahi has co-founded and directed two major campaigns serving communities of color. #FirstOfTheMonth where she and two other local organizations came together to raise 2.4 million dollars to help the most vulnerable of our neighbors who were impacted by COVID and got no financial support from the government. The other #Supplies4FarmWorkers a grassroots community-led campaign where we go to farmworker camps and fields to distribute backpacks, school supplies, PPE, and food essentials. Serving families affected by the California fires and Covid19.

Founder, Partner & Chief Impact Officer, Career Launch

Sean teaches in the Leavey School of Business and in the LEAD scholars program that supports first-generation students. As course coordinator of the Business Communication team, Sean's responsibilities include curriculum design for all the business communication courses in the undergraduate and MBA programs. In the classroom, Sean teaches classes that focus on career and professional development.

Sean O'Keefe is Founder and Partner of Career Launch, a mission-driven social enterprise incubated through SCU's Bronco Venture Accelerator. Career Launch partners with colleges to equitably scale students' ability to create professional relationships and launch effective job or internship searches in the hidden job market, especially for students with few to no employment connections.

Director, One-Stop Enrollment Center

Trista has worked at Santa Clara University since October, 2000. She worked in the Financial Aid Office for 12 years and became the Director of the SCU One Stop in 2012. Prior to her time at Santa Clara, she was a Branch Manager at a financial institution. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Finance from San Jose State.