Cío Hernández, MFT
Marin County Department of Health and Human Services
Cío Hernández is the Bilingual Adolescent Mental Health Practitioner for Teen Clinic of Marin County Department of Health and Human Services, Women's Health Services. She has led several youth groups covering a spectrum of issues, both therapeutic as well as social, and continues Cio's Angels, a community leadership group consisting of youth activists who want to make a difference. Cio's Angels have organized 24-hour "Relay for Life" teams, have presented in conferences across the Bay Area, and have volunteered at community events like the Marin County Fair and Binational Health Week.
Cío is also the community liaison in her role with Community Health and Prevention Services of H&HS. She facilitates diverse focus groups across the county as a way to better understand what is important in the areas of quality service, prevention, and increasing access to services and communities. She also serves as coordinator of the Binational Health Week Events in Marin County.
She currently sits on the Institutional Review Board for Kaiser Foundation Research Institute as a community member, teaches Human Diversity in the Graduate Department of Counseling Psychology at Dominican University, and runs a small private practice.
Cio serves as the vice-chair for the Marin First Five Children and Families Commission,
where she is able to advocate for the needs of families from prenatal to five
years of age. She encourages all adults to advocate for the needs of youth and
children.
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Martín Mora
Los Bomberos of Northern California
Martín Mora, is a professional firefighter in the city of San Jose. He has been
with the San Jose Fire Department for over 12 years. As the Secretary and Media/Public
Relations Coordinator for the Latino Firefighters Association, also known as "Los
Bomberos of Northern California," he has had the opportunity to educate and prepare
the public through radio and television on topics including safety awareness.
Through Los Bomberos, he's helped train firefighters locally and internationally.
Alongside his work as a firefighter, he is also a youth mentor, community activist,
and a missionary. Martín was a mentor for the Big Brothers organization
in San Francisco and currently is a supporter, mentor, and volunteer for the
following organizations: Dare to Succeed Foundation; Latinas Contra Cancer (Latinas
Against Cancer); Oakland Fire Department Random Acts of Kindness; Children's
Hospital in Oakland; U.C.S.F. Hospital; Hope Clinic International; San Jose High
Schools and PAL (Football League); CPR/First Aid Instructor; Pediatric Advanced
Life Support and Advanced Cardiac Life Support Instructor; AED(Automated External
Defibrillator) Instructor. He has been a Medical Staff Volunteer for the Cinco
de Mayo Festivals, Tamale Festival, Mexican Independence Day Celebrations and
other city wide sponsored events.
Martín comes from a family of philanthropists who have a history of serving
others. He continues his family's legacy of philanthropy through dedicating his
time assisting children, women, and families in the Bay Area and Nicaragua. His
drive to help and care for others' well being has led him to expand his community
service efforts and global missionary work. His missionary work comprises of
purchasing and collecting donations such as food, toys, medical supplies, clothes,
and other basic needs people call for in Nicaragua. Martín, who grew up
helping his uncle, Dr. Mora, caring for the sick and poor in Nicaragua, shares
his vision. His uncle has been one of the greatest sources of inspiration in
Martín's life.
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Guillermo "Memo" Morantes
New York Life Insurance
Guillermo "Memo" Morantes is a longtime community volunteer in San Mateo County.
He currently serves on the San Mateo County Board of Education, where he has
been a member since 2000. Memo represents The Las Lomitas, Menlo Park City, Portola
Valley, Ravenswood City, and Woodside elementary school districts and parts of
the Sequoia Union High School District.
Memo's passion for community involvement can be traced to Creative Montessori Pre-School in East Palo Alto, where his children attended. Asked to serve on the Board of Directors, Memo reluctantly accepted, and he has found it hard to say no ever since. His past and present volunteer commitments include: San Mateo County Charter Review Committee, Redwood City/San Mateo County Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Joint Venture: Silicon Valley Board of Directors, United Way San Mateo County Board, Peninsula Habitat for Humanity, Latino Leadership Council, Sequoia Hospital Community Advisory Council, Co-Chair, Sequoia Hospital Foundation Board of Directors, Hispanic Community Foundation Board of Directors, President of the San Mateo County Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Raychem Employee Community Fund, Sequoia Awards Committee, HIP Housing Advisory Board, Foundation for a College Education Advisory Board, San Mateo Area Chamber Commerce, International Institute at Fair Oaks Community Center and Peninsula Blood Bank.
Guillermo "Memo" Morantes was born in Mexico City and is the oldest of 9 children. Due to his family's financial hardship, he started working at the young age of 6, going to school in the mornings and doing odd jobs in the afternoon. At the age of 17, Memo came to California and attended Sequoia High School and then Cañada
College, both Redwood City. He returned to Mexico to fulfill his military service
requirement and returned to the U.S. in 1969. He spent 15 years in management
before starting his own financial and insurance business in 1988.
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Tony Ramirez
Dover Elementary School
Through cooking and gardening, Tony Ramirez is the Health and Nutrition teacher
at Dover Elementary School in West Contra Costa County. He began teaching at
Dover Elementary in 1990. As a Spanish bilingual teacher, Tony has dedicated
his time to promoting dual-language proficiency and to preserving the Latino
culture. In 1994, he was given an opportunity to develop his craft in science
by participating in an Environmental Leadership Program called LIFE (Leadership
Institute for Environmental Education) that changed his whole approach to teaching.
Through the years, Tony incorporated outdoors hands-on education into the curriculum,
instilling the value of the natural environment¬--in his case the local watershed,
Wildcat Creek--and the student's responsibility to maintain a healthy creek.
In 2002, Dover Elementary created two school gardens where students can connect
with nature in a profound yet visceral way learning about the food that they
eat. In addition to his education of his students, he has created an adult class
to inform and teach parents of the importance of eating healthier and to be an
active participant of a garden community. His belief is that if you understand
where your food comes from and what it takes for it to grow, and be able make
a meal with that food, then you will be able to change your eating habits. His
mission is healthy life style living, eating nutritious whole foods and being
physically active. Tony believes, "If we learn to take better care of ourselves
we can extend that concept to the environment hopefully becoming stewards of
the environment. After all, we are all interdependent on each other."
Tony has been an active member of CABE California Association for Bilingual Education, as well as the Oakland Latino Men's Council. He is part of a group of teachers working to implement and improve gardening and cooking education in the schools under the Chez Panisse Foundation. Aside from his teaching commitments, Tony volunteers time as a running coach for the Dover Elementary Running Club.
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Mary Helen Rocha
The Perinatal Council
Mary Helen Rocha currently works as Program Director for The Perinatal Council and coordinates the Antioch First 5 Center permanent facility, which serves families with children under 5 years of age. Her goal is to transfer parent education and child development to the Latino community in a second language so they may also learn how to understand the different ages and stages as the children develop.
Mary's past contribution to youth resulted in endless hours of volunteering in
the classroom as a reading tutor, block parent, bus monitor, den mother, Brownie
leader, and Girl Scout leader. She was a catalyst, as a member of Junior Women's
Club, in developing safety programs for elementary children such as Patch the
Pony (stay away from strangers), Smokey the Bear, Hazard House, Safety Town,
and a puppet show which reached over 5,000 children. Mary also created and implemented
the Thanksgiving food basket program and Christmas gifts for children through
the "Angel Tree" program in local banks, serving as Contra Costa Childcare Coordinator.
She established a Children's Dental Clinic at Parkside School, while she was
the Healthy Start Project Coordinator for the Pittsburg Unified School District.
Of the 560 underserved Spanish speaking and underprivileged children, 20% was
estimated to have no insurance of any kind. The clinic, operated with volunteer
dentists, dental assistants and hygienists, served over 700 students.
Mary's political career started with her election to the Antioch School Board
in 1971, which she served for 16 years. Through her support, the Special Education
Department expanded from 100 to 1200 students. Governor Jerry Brown appointed
her to the Special Education Task Force, where she served for 4 years. As a school
board member she was the founding member of the Mexican American School Board
Association and the National Hispanic School Board Association, serving as president
for both. She was elected to the Antioch City Council in 1984, being the first
elected Latina in Contra Costa County, a post she held for 8 years. She was elected
Mayor and served for 4 years. She was elected by her peers as the chair of the
Mayor's conference which met monthly. Mary has over 30 years experience as a
community organizer and activist concerning family and children's issues in East
Contra Costa County. Her recognition for the need of low cost day care, resulted
in the establishment of the "Mary H. Rocha Child Development Center"which houses
150 children with state funds run by the YWCA.
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Márcia Treidler
ABADÁ - Capoeira San Francisco Brazilian Arts Center
Márcia Treidler, known to the arts community as Mestranda Márcia
Cigarra, is the founder and Artistic Director of ABADÁ-Capoeira San Francisco
(ACSF). A 25-year veteran student of Mestre Camisa and one of the first women
in the capoeira world to earn the title of "Mestranda", Márcia founded ACSF in 1991 when she was a recent immigrant from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. In 1997, Mestranda Márcia Cigarra was granted permanent residency in the United States after receiving a National Interest Waiver as an "Alien
with Extraordinary Abilities."
ACSF was established to expand capoeira outside of Brazil and is dedicated to
preserving, developing, and sharing the art with integrity, using capoeira as
a vehicle to improve and enrich disadvantaged communities and the lives of people
from all backgrounds. Driven by Márcia's tireless dedication, ACSF works
to improve cultural and social equity through social programs, outreach, professional
instruction, and performance of capoeira and related arts at its San Francisco
Mission District based Brazilian Arts Center and at over 40 other Bay Area sites.
Committed to providing equal access to its programs, programming is affordable
or free, and serves a diverse, intergenerational community of 20,000 people each
year, 65% of whom are children, youth and their families.
Márcia is unique and extraordinarily talented both as an artist and as an instructor, but what makes her an outstanding leader in the Bay Area is her profound commitment to improving the lives of her students. She is a master teacher, bringing out the best in each individual with patience, caring, and encouragement. Mestranda Márcia Treidler "Cigarra"'s
work reflects her commitment to the preservation and expansion of an art form
that has an invaluable impact on the cultural standing of our communities. Her
outstanding achievements make her a highly sought-after teacher, an inspirational
leader, and an important role model.
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