Webinar: 2021 MESA State Advisor Training: Opening Session and Resource Site Review by MESA Program

About This Webinar

Opening session for our 3 day State Advisor Training! Come hear from our Directors, listen to an inspiring keynote talk and learn about our many sessions and offerings at our training event. Stick around to see a review of our MESA Advisor Resource Site (MARS), our repository for a plethora of MESA resources, activities, support and curriculum.

Thomas Ahn

Executive Director, MESA

Tania Pacheco-Werner

Co-Director, Central Valley Policy Health Institute

Dr. Tania Pacheco-Werner is a former MESA student (7th grade-12th grade) from Fresno, California. She is now Co-Director at the Central Valley Health Policy Institute at Fresno State. Dr. Pacheco-Werner is also a member of the California Air Resources Board in December and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District. She is a medical sociologist by training and received her Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California, San Francisco.

A health policy researcher by training; her focus is on the neighborhood effects on health. She has published articles on the effects of air quality on maternal-child health. In addition, she has policy publications on the relationship between air quality mitigation and residential segregation. She is an expert in community engagement for policy efforts, most recently involved in the Fresno economic equity initiative DRIVE (Developing the Region’s Inclusive and Vibrant Economy). She is the co-creator of the COVID-19 Equity Project in Fresno County, which uses the community health worker model in the response to the pandemic. The curriculum for this model has been adapted in other counties.

Dr. Pacheco-Werner is a first-generation Mexican immigrant who grew up in the Central Valley. She hopes her work helps ground policy in the everyday practical challenges faced by communities in California. She lives with her husband and son in Sanger, California.

Carlos Gonzalez

UCR MESA Director and Statewide MESA Curriculum Specialist

Carlos is the Curriculum Specialist for the California MESA Program, the Director of the MESA programs at the Bourns College of Engineering at UC Riverside, and instructor for this course. Carlos is a former engineer, public school educator and has been an instructor and adjunct faculty in university classrooms. His responsibilities include program management and administration, curriculum development, teacher preparation and training, and the creation and implementation of student engineering challenges.

As a MESA alumni (at both the Pre-College and University level), first generation college student and a proud Latino (from the land of eternal spring, Guatemala), he has a passion for empowering, inspiring and preparing young people and their educators for achievement and success. Carlos lives in one of the communities his local MESA program serves (Moreno Valley, CA), and has a beautiful wife and vivacious son. In his free time, Carlos enjoys hiking and being active. He also has sung and played music in the church (he still plays keyboard on occasion), produced an underground rap album and has been known to emcee events.