Staff

Meet PUEBLO's Staff: Old and New

 
 
Mark Alvarado is not a stranger to Santa Barbara County.  Born in Santa Maria, Mark moved with his family to Santa Barbara as a teenager and graduated from Santa Barbara High School and then attended both Santa Barbara City College and Allan Hancock College studying journalism.  Fellow classmates at Santa Barbara High School remember Mark's abilities on the basketball court and his love of music.  He nurtured his interest in community and culture with broadcasting on public affairs and music programs at UCSB's radio station, FM 91.9 KCSB. Mentored by Santa Barbara artist Manuel Unzueta, Mark studied his Mexican-American heritage and took up music composition which led to touring with the Reggae band, Soul Force.  Mark moved to El Paso, Texas in 1994 and graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a degree in Humanities, Diversity and Chicano Studies. 
 

Public service became Mark's passion, beginning with his work at the California Department of Forestry with the California Conservation Corps.  After moving to Texas, Mark worked for the El Paso Community College as a workforce development specialist assisting displaced garment workers and high school dropouts.  During his years in Texas, Mark worked for the El Paso YMCA as an Ameri-corps Supervisor and as an outreach organizer for health promotion for Centro Salud Familiar La Fe in El Paso.  The Mayor of El Paso appointed Mark as the Neighborhood Services Coordinator for the City of El Paso.  Mark contributed to the development of a neighborhood recognition ordinance that registered neighborhood associations. His work also created programs and services that increased civic involvement and comprehensive neighborhood revitalization strategies with both the private and public sectors.Mark enthusiastically accepted the opportunity to move back home to Santa Barbara and began as the Executive Director in April of 2011.

Antonio Rivera Sanchez was born in Puebla, Mexico. As a young child he witnessed his father organize his fellow farm workers in order to gain property rights. From experiences such as these Antonio learned the important moral foundation for his work today: that in order to bring about change we must unite and fight for it.

From 1993-1995 Antonio was a volunteer for a union of farm workers in Washington State where he was appointed as a delegate at the United Farm Workers convention. Soon, he became an organizer for the UFW and organized in various states with agricultural farmers. After working as an organizer for eight years Antonio gained a great amount of experience about the struggle for farm workers rights. 
In 2003 Antonio worked for a year with The Dolores Huerta Foundation. During this time the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers asked Dolores if Antonio could assist in organizing a discertification of a Union in Corona, California.

From 2005-2006 Antonio organized with the Union of  Local Artists 86, the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union for the local 99, and the Industry of Alimentary in Phoenix, Arizona.
Antonio has been the North County Organizer for PUEBLO since 2008.
 
Hazel Putney a native of Santa Maria, first got involved with PUEBLO in the fall of 2006.  She began with PUEBLO as a Precinct Captain and eventual founder of the Santa Maria PUEBLO Youth Committee. During high school Hazel became involved with Future Leaders of America, Just Communities and the Fund for Santa Barbara Grant-Making Committee and continues to support them as she can today. Hazel graduated from the University of Santa Barbara, California with her Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology and Feminist Studies, during her 4 years at UCSB Hazel worked half time with PUEBLO as the Administrative Assistant. Also while at UCSB, Hazel was heavily involved in student organizing for the LGTBQ community.
Hazel is a passionate advocate for social justice and strongly believes in electoral organizing as a form in which we can shift power relations and create for a more fair society. Hazel began as the Director of Organizing and Grassroots Fundraising in April of 2011 and works out of PUEBLO’s north county office.
 
Vanessa Del Toro was born in Ventura, California to immigrant parents. Her grandfather served in the Bracero program during the late 1940s and early 1950s and she spent a year at La Manzanilla De La Paz, Jalisco, Mexico during her early youth. A graduate from Rio Mesa High School, she grew up interacting with the fellow farm worker community of El Rio, California. Upon attending the University of California Santa Barbara she became passionate about serving the low income community after interacting and assisting her fellow paisanosat the Westside Neighborhood Clinic.  An avid volunteer at the Goleta Humane Society and the Isla Vista Community Garden Vanessa hopes to engage with and assist the low income community of Santa Barbara through PUEBLO as an Administrative Assistant. Currently, Vanessa is a University of California Santa Barbara Senior studying Feminist Studies and Chicano Studies.