Join us for the 2020 MESA Advisor Training Week opening session!
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    Thomas Ahn
    MESA Executive Director
    Thomas Ahn’s 30-year career in the non-profit youth development and college success space reflects his belief that sustainable impact requires long-range vision and commitment, coupled with short-term flexibility and creativity.

    Prior to taking on his role as Executive Director of the MESA Statewide Office in December 2016, Tom served as the founding Director of Programs and then the Executive Director of First Graduate, a San Francisco-based non-profit college access and completion program for over 15 years.

    Tom also served for 12 years in various capacities at the San Francisco Conservation Corps (SFCC), a venerable job training and education non-profit modeled after the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps program.

    A long-time Bay Area resident, Tom lives in Oakland with his wife Laura and two young daughters, Serena and Zadie, who aspire to be either scientists or professional soccer players...or artists!

    He earned a bachelor’s degree in Film Studies (of all things!) at Yale University and earned his Master’s Degree in Education at Harvard.
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    Jennifer Barrientos
    Guest Speaker
    Jennifer Barrientos was a MESA student at Roosevelt Elementary, Whaley MS, and Dominguez HS (under the UCI MESA Program). In 2015, she was a member of an all-girls NEDC team from Compton that won the National Engineering Design Competition held in Ogden, Utah! While a student at UCI, Jennifer worked for MESA and during all four years she was a judge for the NEDC. She graduated from UCI with a biomedical/medical engineering degree in 2019 and has had the opportunity to work as an engineer with companies like Edwards Lifesciences, Johnson & Johnson, Integra Devices, and the UC Irvine Medical Center. She currently works as a Design Quality Engineer at MicroVention-Terumo supporting the development of various devices for aneurysm therapy, neurovascular deformations, and ischemic stroke and carotid artery disease. During her time-off from work, she loves going on hiking trips with her dog and is currently learning how to powerlift.
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    Carlos Gonzalez
    Curriculum Specilaist, MESA and Director, UCR MESA Programs
    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. 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.