The cliff notes version of me: I am a queer, Latina, high school dropout (2x), was a teen parent, who graduated from high school, and completed my Bachelor of Science degree at Arizona State University in Nonprofit Leadership and Management complimented by a certificate as a Certified Nonprofit Professional. Who has completed a graduate degree in Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University and is also a member of Alpha Sigma Nu.

You see, I am more than my degrees, certificate, accolades, and identities. I understand the importance of being a decent human being first, by allowing people grace, mercy, compassion, and understanding. I lead with integrity, compassion, understanding, and grace. I struggled a lot, more than most people will ever know emotionally, mentally, and physically. I decided my challenges are lessons I need to learn and grow from. I know my purpose in life is to share my story, empower other people, advocate and create systems change, and help develop people (especially those with various intersectionalities) into who they want to become. I hope someone will be able to see me as a reflection of what they may be able to accomplish and see through the window the opportunities they can attain.

I chose to pursue a graduate degree because I wanted to grow professionally and personally to learn more about leadership and organizational leadership. I sought out pathways, support, and resources on how to do this for myself. I soon realized this was an elite group of people who had a scarcity mentality about their journey or did not have time to share their knowledge. I searched for years and was told I needed a bachelor's and master's degree. Throughout my journey I have learned it does not matter if you have any degrees it is about the people you serve, with dignity, and respect.

I hope whomever I come across in my life will feel safe enough to share their story and that I will feel safe enough to share mine. So they do not feel alone and are inspired to continue on their journey whatever that may be personally or professionally. To become the best versions of themselves. That they will see the leader within themselves who decides to get up, show up, and show out. To allow themselves the grace to know it is okay to have a bad day and try not to stay there too long.

Sometimes those obstacles are the Universe/God’s way of redirecting you towards something better. To know someone else believes in them, their passion, abilities, and skills to grow. Lastly, to know we all make mistakes, we change every second, every minute, every hour, and every day, and nothing is so horrible that you cannot change who you are right now and today.