Board Member
Board Member
Board Member, Co-Chair
Board Member
Board Member-Co-Chair
Board Member, Secretary
Board Member
Lead Promotora
Environmental Justice Coordinator
Program Manager
Program Manager
I am an immigrant from San Miguel Atlautla, Estado de México, México. I arrived in the United States at the age of 19. I am married and we have 3 daughters and a grandson at home.
I have lived in the Madison Park area for 18 years. My daughters attended Madison Elementary, Villa Fundamental Intermediate and Century High School. I have participated in different committees representing Madison Elementary and I currently represent Century High School.
I am a believer of the power of education and I strongly support parent engagement in their children’s schools. I have served as Vice President of the District Advisory Council/District English Learner Advisory Committee at the Santa Ana Unified School District (SAUSD). I participate in different organizations such as Santa Ana Early Learning Initiative (SAELI), Promotoras de Salud de GREEN-MPNA and Comunidad Unida Aire Limpio (CUAL). At Madison Elementary, I was President and Vice President of Familias en Acción (formerly Madres en Acción). I was honored to be nominated as Madison Elementary School’s Mother of the Year in 2016 and Century High School’s Mother of the Year in 2019. I was also recognized by Senator Tom Umber as a Woman of Distinction in 2020 and as a Woman of the Year in 2021 by Congressman Lou Correa.
I just finished my High School Adult GED at Santa Ana College this year. And I am very excited to be part of the GREEN-MPNA Advisory Board since I have participated for several years in the GREEN Programs and I know that for GREEN the well-being of the community is the most important thing.
My name is Maria de Los Angeles Diaz. I am from Mexico City and I came to California with my husband and son and have lived in the Madison Park area for over 17 years.
I received my High School GED from Santa Ana College in 2020. I believe in the idea that the active participation of parents in their child’s education is fundamental for the student’s academic success. Based on this idea, I have been serving the community where I have been contributing in many organizations such as Padres Promotores de la Educación of Santa Ana College, Greeter Program, Santa Ana Early Learning Initiative (SAELI), Promotora de Salud of GREEN – MPNA, Comunidad Unida Aire Limpio (CUAL), Secretaria de Familias en Acción of Madison Elementary School, President of the School Site Council of Madison Elementary School, and member of the District Advisory Committee/ District English Learners Advisory Committee (DAC/DELAC). In the year 2019, I had the honor of being nominated as Mother of the Year by Madison Elementary School and in 2021 Woman of the Year by Congressman Lou Correa.
It is an honor for me to become a part of the GREEN-MPNA Advisory Board and I am very motivated to participate in this organization that helps students have better educational opportunities and to help transform our community for the better.
An immigrant from San Martin Hidalgo, Jalisco, México, Mr. Rea arrived in California at the age of 17. He received a high school diploma from Roosevelt Adult School in Los Angeles and an A.A. degree from East Los Angeles College. Jose, a Santa Ana resident, attended UC Irvine to complete his undergraduate education in Environmental Analysis with minors in Epidemiology & Public Health and Psychology & Social Behavior. He received a Master’s degree in Demographics & Applied Social Analysis also from UCI. Mr. Rea worked in the Minority Science Research Programs for underrepresented students at UCI School of Biological Sciences for 14 years. And in 2002 he accepted a position at UCI School of Medicine to develop and implement a new program: PRIME-LC (Program in Medical Education for the Latino Community), As one of the founding directors, Mr. Rea was also a key contributor to the expansion of the PRIME-LC concept throughout the University of California Medical Schools. In 2016 Mr. Rea retired from UCI while holding an academic position in the Department of Family Medicine. Currently Jose is using his 28-years of experience in higher education administration in the non-profit sector. He is the Executive Director of the Madison Park Neighborhood Association (MPNA) GREEN (Getting Residents Engaged in Empowering Neighborhoods) Programs at James Madison Elementary in Santa Ana. Jose has served on numerous boards and initiatives in Santa Ana, CA.
Mike Fortun is Professor in the Department of Anthropology at UC Irvine, where he has taught since 2017. An anthropologist and historian of the life sciences, his current research is on the environmental health sciences and air pollution governance, in collaboration with his wife Kim Fortun. He is originally from Cheswick, Pennsylvania, a small town about 12 miles up the Allegheny River from Pittsburgh, but lived in upstate New York for twenty years where he and Kim taught at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He was a member of the Board of Education for Brunswick Central School District from 2012 to 2017, and served as Board President 2015-2017. His strong commitment to public education comes in large part from his father and older brother, who were both high school English teachers. He is also a firm believer in the importance and strength of community organizations, and in their collaboration with university researchers; he co-founded the Institute for Science and Interdisciplinary Studies (IS&IS) in 1994, a 501(c)(3) in Amherst MA that organized community-science collaborations in areas from military waste cleanup to sustainable agriculture, and has served continuously on its Board of Trustees since. He is honored and excited to join the GREEN-MPNA Community Advisory Board.
Lisa Gonzales-Solomon has served the Santa Ana community over the past 30 years not just as an educator but an active community member. She is currently the Principal at Madison Elementary School where student learning and achievement is at the forefront of all decision-making. As a principal in Santa Ana for eleven years she led schools in improving achievement on the Academic Performance Index, transformed a school to a “Rewards School” of the California Office of Education Reform, and has led Madison to achieving recognition as a CORE High Impact school.. Mrs. Solomon has received numerous recognitions, most recently recognized for her work in the community receiving the 2018 Kiwanis Golden Rule Award and the 2019 state of California, 69th District Woman of the Year Award. Lisa Gonzales-Solomon holds a B.A. in Liberal Studies from Chapman University and an M.A. in Education Administration from Azusa Pacific University. Lisa Gonzales-Solomon believes we are here to serve others and to help build a strong future through student mentorship. As well as being the District representative for SAUSD on Community Linkages forum, she serves on the Community Advisory Committee Board for Special Education parents, and the SAUSD We CARE committee.
Adolfo Sierra and his family have lived in the Madison Park neighborhood since 1994. Adolfo has served on the GREEN board in different capacities since 2000 and has served as the acting President since May 2020.
As a social worker for the County of Orange at the Social Services Agency, he serves Santa Ana and the surrounding communities by assisting families in need, managing programs that provide temporary emergency assistance and employment opportunities, and empowering families to climb the educational ladder and become self-sufficient.
He earned an Associate in Science in Business Administration and an Associate in Arts in Liberal Arts from Santa Ana College, and an Associate in Arts in Human Services from Cypress College. He began attending California State University Fullerton in the Fall of 2020, currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration on General Management. In 1999, he enlisted in the United States Navy Reserve, served in California for ten years, and was Honorably Discharged in July 2010 as a Second-Class Petty Officer.
“I have been on the GREEN board for several years because it is an opportunity to be an active and responsible member of the community where I have resided for over 27 years. At the same, I am making a difference in the quality of life of my family and others”
David Terrazas was first introduced to MPNA-GREEN in 2012 as a freshman undergraduate student at the University of California, Irvine. Starting as a tutor at Madison Elementary School, he also became one of the first mentors for the ALMA Science Academy. Two years later David became the Academic Coordinator for the ALMA Science Academy and continued to work with MPNA-GREEN to help grow their youth academic programs, including the introduction of the ALMA High School Scholars Program.
David was initially pursuing a career as a physician with his Bachelor’s Degree in Biological Sciences. However, working with MPNA-GREEN and the Santa Ana community inspired him to change his career path toward education. David left his position as Academic Programs Coordinator at MPNA-GREEN in 2020 to pursue a Master’s in Education degree at the University of California, Los Angeles. He now teaches high school biology in Los Angeles. David is eager to once again work with the families of Santa Ana and use his new knowledge to help further develop GREEN’s academic programs as part of the Advisory Board.
Andrea De Vizcaya Ruiz recently moved to California from Mexico City to work as an Associate Professor at the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health in the Program of Public Health at UCI. Andrea De Vizcaya-Ruiz is an award-winning expert in environmental toxicology whose research focuses on the toxicity effects of air pollutants, particulate matter, and chemicals on the human body. With more than 20 years of experience as a Toxicologist, mainly using laboratory experimental models, she assesses different physiological responses – from tissue injury and inflammation to oxidative stress – that arise after the inhalation exposure to different environmental and occupational hazards to establish how exposure can cause disease.
Andrea De Vizcaya Ruiz graduated in Veterinary Medicine and Zootechnics from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and has a PhD in Toxicology from the University of Surrey, in England. She later joined and worked at the Department of Toxicology at the Research Center for Advanced Studies (Cinvestav) for 20 years, before joining the University of California at Irvine.
In addition to her role as Associate Professor, De Vizcaya-Ruiz also participates in several research initiatives across the University of California. These include the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (COEH), the Air Pollution Health Effects Lab (APHEL), and UCI Atmospheric Integrated Research unit (AirUCI). She is the DECADE Mentor for the Program of Public Health, with the commitment to foster an inclusive environment within UCI’s graduate programs to promote diversity within the graduate student population campuswide.
She is excited to be a part of the GREEN Programs bringing her expertise in environmental toxicology to serve for the well-being of the community residents and the City of Santa Ana, through developing and strengthening programs, and as a liaison between UCI and up and coming STEM researchers.
Teresa Campos, born in Ario de Rosales, Michoacan, Mexico. She arrived in Bakersfield in 1978 and moved soon after to Santa Ana with her family. She has resided in Santa Ana for over 40 years.
Teresa began her career working in a golf factory learning to assemble golf clubs for 20 years. Her ambition to move forward, Teresa worked at El Superior for 10 years. During this time, her community involvement increased when she began looking for health insurance to cover her daughter. On this journey, she connected with Adriana Grace Jimenez of Give For A Smile, who helped Teresa apply for Medicare. Teresa found a new passion for helping others connect with local resources, because of her volunteer commitment to Give For A Smile, she was offered a job with them. As a community health worker, Teresa’s experience working with the community grew, she began attending health fairs, going to local schools to promote Medi-Cal and Medicare, organizing table events at the Mexican consulate, attending health conferences, community clinics, and hospitals. Her work to help others continued in other areas of Santa Ana, as she volunteered with Survivors of Human Trafficking since 2005. She also volunteered with Vision and Commitment since 2011 and has been certified by Covered California for being a Community Enrollment Partner. Teresa enjoys giving back to her community and building lasting relationships. Through Give For A Smile, Teresa was introduced to the GREEN-MPNA promotoras in 2020. She became involved in COVID-19 pandemic trainings and helped as a promotora handing out information for vaccine clinics, food distribution, and food stamps. Teresa is now part of GREEN-MPNA, has a lead promotora, and wants to continue to empower the neighborhood with resources and information to help the community improve. Teresa has 2 sons and 2 daughters, in her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her 10 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren.
Aylin’s family emigrated from Guerrero, Mexico and moved to the Madison neighborhood when she was born. She attended Madison Elementary, Mendez Fundamental Intermediate, and Godinez Fundamental High School. She is a first-generation college graduate and the first in her family to graduate from college. She graduated from UC San Diego with an Environmental Systems degree specializing in Environmental Chemistry. Previously, she worked at an environmental organization in San Diego called I Love A Clean San Diego as a bilingual Outreach Assistant providing support to their Education and Community Engagement departments. She hopes to use her background to give back to her community by promoting community involvement, environmental education, and working towards a safer and healthier environment.
Sarahi is a graduate of Eastern Washington University (EWU) with a Bachelor’s in International Affairs and Political Science and minors in Chicanx Studies and Spanish. After graduating, she was hired on by EWU to work for the Chicanx Studies Program as a Coordinator and Recruiter. Additionally, Sarahi was involved in the community by volunteering at non-profits dedicated to empowering the Latine population and volunteering as a domestic violence hotline advocate. She understands the importance of continuing to find innovative and effective pathways to invest in the communities and improve the living conditions of the neighborhood. Her passion for working with the community has allowed her to bring new opportunities in her new role. Sarahi serves as the Community Organizer for (GREEN) Getting Residents Engaged in Empowering Neighborhoods and assists Leonel Flores with organizing the Comunidad Unida Aire Limpio (CUAL) committees.
My name is Jhoel Muñiz. I am the Academic Assistant for the GREEN-MPNA ALMA Mentorship Programs. I am currently a senior at CSU Fullerton majoring in Child and Adolescent Development with a focus on adolescent and youth development. I have been involved in the ALMA programs since my time in high school and have been an active member in the community as well. I first began as a mentee in the ALMA High School Scholars Program (HSSP) when I was in high school and then became a mentor myself when I graduated from high school and moved on to university. I am excited to be the Academic Assistant of the programs and one of my interests is to support students so that they have a better academic development.
Mi nombre es Jhoel Muñiz. Soy el Asistente Académico de los Programas de Mentoría GREEN-MPNA ALMA. Actualmente soy estudiante de último año en CSU Fullerton con especialización en Desarrollo Infantil y Adolescente con un enfoque en el desarrollo de adolescentes y jóvenes. He estado involucrado en los programas de ALMA desde que estaba en la escuela secundaria y también he sido un miembro activo en la comunidad. Comencé como aprendiz en el Programa de Becarios de Escuela Secundaria (HSSP) de ALMA cuando estaba en la escuela secundaria y seguí como mentor después de graduarme de la escuela secundaria y pasé a la universidad. Estoy emocionado de ser el Asistente Académico de los programas y uno de mis principales intereses es apoyar a los estudiantes para que tengan un mejor desarrollo académico