CONVENTION SPEAKERS
KEYNOTE SPEAKER: ROSA ELENA MORENO
Rosa Elena Moreno, Associate Director, Career Services. Rosa's tenure with SDSU began as the SDSU-Imperial Valley Assistant Dean for Student Affairs. She is celebrating 22 years at the University. Prior university appointments include Holy Names University, California Lutheran University, and Bakersfield State University. Rosa is the daughter of Mexican immigrants, her mother Estella is from Morelia, Michoacán, and her father, Luis from Tepic, Nayarit. She is the oldest of 8, 5 sisters, and 3 brothers. All who reside in Ventura County. The proudest achievement in her family is that her family within one generation did not continue the cycle of living on food stamps welfare and poverty.
Rosa is an alum of California State University Northridge, Bachelor of Arts, Child Development and Holy Names University, Masters of Higher Education emphasis in Business. She is a first generation professional, CSU Northridge EOP Alum, and the first in her family to graduate from a university. Today, 6 of her 11 nieces and nephews have graduated from universities. May 2022, the youngest will graduate. Those who did not attend college are also professionals in their fields.
She is the Associate Director of Career Counseling and oversees the career counselors who create and connect a range of career readiness programming to students, faculty, residential education, academic colleges, clubs and organizations. SDSU Career Services serves approximately 25% of Latina and Latino students. Rosa has collaborated with SDSU colleagues to present on the commuter and Latina experience at NASPA National Conferences. She is the SDSU Latina Network and Employee Resource Group Chair, Cesar E. Chavez Luncheon Chair, and advisor to Alpha Pi Sigma, Latina Sorority.Alpha Pi Sigma awarded Rosa, honorary sorority membership.
In response to the COVID-19 Pandemic she served as the liaison to the 2020 and 2021 Senior Classes to assess academic, health and campus resources. As the first Latina Assistant Dean for Student Affairs at the SDSU-IVC she established the Imperial Valley County Collaborative in Higher Education to increase student, college and university access and persistence toward graduation. The collaborative included all segments and representation of higher education institutions and community agencies. This included a partnership with the University of California Chancellor’s Office. Hosted an annual parent conference on the value of higher education for parents. In addition, formalized Student Affairs operations to better serve students and the community. While at SDSU-IVC she worked closely with the late Gus Chavez to allocate EOP Funds to students.
At California Lutheran, Rosa established the department of Multicultural Services and Programs. The department focused on outreach and scholarship initiatives funded by the Irvine Foundation. While on campus, established a Chicana-Latina Peer Health Educators with Ventura County Planned Parenthood, LINKS Saturday School with the NAACP and Festival de Encuentros, and hosted Migrant Education Conferences for parents. Rosa has received numerous awards for her commitment to students. She is most proud of her contributions toward improving the college experience for first-generation, low income and immigrant students. She mentors and challenges Chicana and Latina students to redefine their image, cultural status and success. She is a member of the National Association of Employers and Colleges, (NACE) the National Association of Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education, NASPA Undergraduate Fellow Program Mentor and Route 78 Rotary, member (Latina-Latino Rotary).
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF LATINO FRATERNAL ORGANIZATION
The National Association of Latino Fraternal Organizations, Inc., (NALFO) is an “umbrella” coalition established in 1998 to promote and foster positive interfraternal relations, communication, and development of all Latino fraternal organizations through mutual respect, leadership, honesty, professionalism and education. Today, NALFO’s 16 fraternities and sororities are bound by a shared commitment to fraternal unity, family values and empowering Latino and under-served communities.
VANESSA GIRON, MA, APCC, PPS
Vanessa (she/her/hers) is dedicated to helping empower and uplift the underserved surrounding communities in which she grew up. She attended Los Angeles Pierce Community College and California State University, Northridge where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a master’s degree in School Counseling and Clinical Counseling. For the past several years, she has been trained at different counseling levels from k-12 school counseling, community college counseling, and psychodynamic therapy. She is currently serving as a children and family mental health associate therapist in the San Fernando Valley for a non-profit organization. During her presentation, Vanessa will be speaking about mental health awareness related to the worldwide pandemic that we have endured in the past year.
MATTHEW H. GARCIA,
Matthew H Garcia is the Assistant Director for Fraternity & Sorority Life at San Diego State University. Matthew is originally from Santa Maria, a small town on the Central Coast of California. He attended California State University, Long Beach where he earned a bachelor's degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communication Studies and went on to acquire a master’s degree in Postsecondary Educational Leadership with a Specialization in Student Affairs from San Diego State University.
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