Fresno is my home. It’s the place that gave me a chance. As a kid, I grew up in a single parent, low-income household with my mother, who spent most of her working career as an in-home care provider. As a family, we suffered from food, housing and transportation insecurities that proved to be barriers to my overall education in high school and in college.
At an early age my mother instilled in me the importance of obtaining a college education, as she did not have the opportunity to graduate high school, let alone attend college herself. I am the first in my family to graduate from a four-year university, Fresno State, with an undergraduate degree. Attending college would prove to be the only way to break the cycle of poverty for myself and my family.
As a student, I experienced first-hand the barriers and obstacles Fresno County students face in and outside of the home. I’m running for the Fresno County Board of Education because I want to ensure every student has an easier path to success without enduring the same hardships I did. I intend to address the cultural, economic, and educational fault lines that impact student progress, and provide more technological, financial and educational support services to Fresno County Schools. I also want to ensure every student is skilled and equipped to attend a four year university, while building cradle to career programs at our local community colleges and universities for students who want to enter vocational and trade professions. By removing bureaucratic, systemic and institutional barriers that prevent student achievement, I know we can get there together.