CEJA’s Administrative Associate, Maribel is a community-oriented individual who is passionate about reallocating resources to those that have been underserved because of systemic injustices. This passion led her to complete a Master’s Degree in Public Health with a concentration in Health and Social Behavior in 2022, as the first in her family to do so.
Her public health interests include expanding the collective’s view on health care so that a person’s emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual well-being are considered, especially for communities of color. Along her journey, she has collected five years of work experience in the administrative field. Throughout this time, she has been able to design and support various events and programs to create opportunities: from the First-Generation Book Drive at Willamette University, where textbooks were recycled by being collected from end-of-semester donation bins and then cataloged into a library system so that first-generation college students could borrow them for free, to the Be Bothered Movement Art Scholarship at the Center for Collaborative Planning, Public Health Institute, a chance for youth in Sacramento to share their wisdom about the rise of underage alcohol and marijuana use through an expression of art.
She is excited to be joining CEJA’s efforts in leading an environmental justice movement that centers communities of color and those that are experiencing poverty. Maribel was born and raised in Oakland, giving her first-hand knowledge about the health issues communities face as a result of environmental injustices. With a compassionate, organized and efficient approach to her work, she looks forward to tapping into her administrative skillset to be of service to the communities that CEJA supports.