EDUCATION.EMPOWERMENT. UNITY.HOPE
13 Years of Community Service
Educating,Empowering, Mentoring the next generation of Leaders and Voices for Change
Philanthropist at the heart of our Foundation who volunteer their time to educate,motivate,and inpire the next generation of Empowering and Resilient Voices.
Advisory Board Council
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Jorge Hernandez is an Educator serving his community at a Los Angeles Unified School District. He graduated from California State University Dominguez Hills with a Bachelors in Liberal Studies and a minor in Spanish. He has extensive experience in business and entrepreneurship. For many years, he owned Credit in your hands helping his community understand importance of credit and financial planning.
Jorge help established the foundation in 2011 along with the Founder. He has been active as a Board Member and now Advisory Board Member Council for the last twelve years. He graduated from John C Fremont High School in South Central Los Angeles in 1990. He hopes to continue in his career as an educator to help the youth of his community reach for higher educational goals, and instill in them the importance of community service.
Pablo Mejia Jr. is currently the Principal at the School of Business and Tourism at Miguel Contreras Learning Complex. He also served as an AP Economics Teacher at Santee Education Complex in South Central Los Angeles. He graduated from UCLA in 2001 with a B.A. in Economics and a minor in Latin American Studies. He served as the Department Chair for the Social Science/History Department while he was a teacher at Santee. He later moved on to receive a Master’s in education (M.Ed.) from UCLA in 2006 and later his School Administrator Credential from the UCLA Principal Leadership Institute (PLI) in 2010. Born and raised in South Central Los Angeles, he knew the importance of promoting higher education opportunities to youth from underrepresented neighborhoods.
As an undergrad, he was a co-founder of the Latino Business Student Association’s (LBSA) Adelante Tutoring and Mentoring Program which targets the youth from the Bell Gardens area, providing tutoring and mentoring. He has also been a participant of Raza Grad, as a participant, coordinator, and volunteer. Upon graduation, as a recruiter for UCLA, he worked with many students, at the high school, community college level and university level, across the state, providing information and assistance for students who want access to higher education.
He has served as mentor for LBSA undergraduates since graduating.
He was an active member of the UCLA Latino Alumni Association; he has helped many UCLA students receive scholarships both at the undergrad and graduate level as the Scholarship Chair and then as Vice President. As a recipient of the Salvadoran American Leadership Education Fund (SALEF) Scholarship, he served as a mentor to students at Belmont High School. He also served on the SALEF Scholarship and Futuros program as a volunteer.
Mr. Pablo Mejia Jr. also actively serves as an advisor to the Fremont High School Alumni Foundation and helped establish the Scholarship Program in 2012. He graduated from John C Fremont High School in South Central Los Angeles in 1996 and hopes to continue in his career as a Principal to help the youth of his community.
Dra. Ana Romero is a scholar-practitioner in higher education. She is the proud daughter of Mexican immigrants and the first in the family to go to college. Ana is committed to improving access, retention, and inclusion of marginalized communities in college and has over 15 years of combined experience as a higher education administrator and researcher. She currently works in the School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA as the Assistant Director of the Student Affairs graduate program which prepares future higher education practitioners. She is also an Associate Project Scientist for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded Coordination and Evaluation Center at UCLA which focuses on Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) equity and education research.
Ana recently earned her doctoral degree in Higher Education and Organizational Change at UCLA. She also holds a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Maryland, College Park and bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics and Sociology from UCLA. Ana’s research focuses on STEM equity, campus climate, and labor equity in higher education. She’s published on the importance of culturally aware mentor training for faculty and presented on the topics such as campus climate, student activism, creating inclusive environments, and has extensive experience facilitating diversity and leadership development training.
Prior to her doctoral studies, Ana spent a decade working in residential life and was most recently an Assistant Director for Residential Life. In her roles, she worked alongside students, staff, and faculty to address the leadership development, social justice, academic and career success, and health and wellness needs of undergraduate and graduate students.
She has served as Scholarship Committee Co-Chair and is now an Advisory Board Member helping bring higher education resources to the Pathfinder Youth Council Volunteer Program through Masterclasses and workshops.
Dra. Susana O. Salgado is bilingual Chicana psychologist. She is the daughter of immigrants from Mexico, 1st gen college student graduate, wife and mother of two expressive and fierce little girls. She is committed to serving her community and has been practicing as a psychologist for the past 14 years. She launched her private practice and consultation in 2019 where she focuses on supporting individuals’ healing journey through culturally responsive therapy that allows clients to reclaim their power. Her areas of specialty are trauma, supporting individuals through life transitions (e.g., immigration, maternal mental health and grief & loss), and BIPOC professional identity/career related matters (e.g., burnout prevention, working through imposter phenomenon & self-care).
She is committed to decolonizing our mental health practices through healing and education. She is passionate about supporting clinical development of current and future clinicians and has been intimately involved in training and supervision with doctoral and masters level students throughout her career. She recently founded Mind Body Corazón, a space where the complexities of our Latinidad are uplifted as we push past destigmatizing mental health and move toward reclaiming our overall wellness and reconnecting with our ancestral wisdom. Dra. Salgado has also served as president of California Latinx Psychological Association (CLPA). She has a Bachelors of Arts in Psychology from Cal State University Los Angeles, and Doctor of Philosophy in Counseling Psychology (PHD) from the University of Oregon. She is a graduate of John C. Fremont High School Class of 1996.
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She is leading the way and helping the foundation and the next generation of resilient voices through Mental Health Awareness.
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Pathfinder Educators Council Members
"LET US THINK OF EDUCATION AS THE MEANS OF DEVELOPING OUR GREATEST ABILITIES, BECAUSE IN EACH OF US THERE IS A PRIVATE HOPE AND DREAM WHICH FULFILLED CAN BE TRANSLATED INTO BENEFIT FOR EVERYONE AND GREATER STRENGTH FOR OUR NATION. ONE PERSON CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE AND EVERYONE SHOULD TRY.” John F. Kennedy
