Cristina Perez is a San Francisco native, born to Mexican immigrants. She developed resiliency early on which led her to become the first to graduate college and then a 22-year career dedicated to fighting against social and economic inequities. During the past 18 years at the non-profit Summer Search Bay Area, Cristina has advocated for unrepresentative students through socio emotional mentoring and innovative programming. As the Director of Post-Secondary and Alumni Relations, she built and launched their first post-secondary program that created access for students to advising, financial literacy, and career opportunities: internship, jobs and career coach programs with networking built in to connect with professionals and companies. In addition, Cristina fuels her passion for diversity and inclusion initiatives as a Talent Consultant for social impact organizations supporting their recruiting needs and creating diverse sourcing pipelines. Cristina has a BA in Psychology and Ethnic Studies Certificate from the University of San Francisco, and a Masters in Social Work and PPS credential from San Jose State University. Prior to Summer Search, Cristina worked at La Clinica de la Raza, Instituto Familiar de la Raza and at Santa Clara’s Kaiser Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She was also a board member of Pacific Primary Preschool.