Guest Speakers - January 26th, 2021 | UTRGV

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Guest Speakers - January 26th, 2021

Francisco Guajardo

Chief Executive Officer, Museum of South Texas History in Edinburg

956-383-6911

fguajardo@mosthistory.org

Francisco Guajardo

Francisco Guajardo
Chief Executive Officer, Museum of South Texas History in Edinburg
Museum of South Texas History in Edinburg
Edinburg, TX
Email: fguajardo@mosthistory.org
Phone: 956-383-6911

Francisco Guajardo is the Chief Executive Officer of the Museum of South Texas History in Edinburg, Texas. He was born in Rio Bravo, Tamaulipas, and settled with his family in the Rio Grande Valley community of Elsa, Texas, where he was raised in a supportive family and community environment. He grew up in federal housing through his elementary and middle school years, and the family then moved into a colonia on the outskirts of Elsa. He graduated from Edcouch-Elsa High School and attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned a B.A. in English, an M.A in History, and a Ph.D. in History and Educational Administration. He taught high school at his alma mater for a dozen years and was a university professor and administrator at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley for 18 years. Since September 2019, he has been the CEO of the Museum. Dr. Guajardo has authored or co-authored three books and approximately 60 articles.

Maritza De La Trinidad

Project Director for Historias Americanas: Engaging History & Citizenship in the Rio Grande Valley

956-665-3236

maritza.delatrinidad@utrgv.edu

Maritza De La Trinidad

Maritza De La Trinidad
Project Director for Historias Americanas: Engaging History & Citizenship in the Rio Grande Valley
EMAGC 2.402
Email: maritza.delatrinidad@utrgv.edu
Phone: 956-665-3236

Maritza De La Trinidad is an Assistant Professor of Mexican American Studies at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and the Project Director of Historias Americanas: Engaging History and Citizenship in the Rio Grande Valley, a professional development program for K-12 teachers funded by a U.S. Department of Education grant. Dr. De La Trinidad has a Ph.D. in history from the University of Arizona. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on Mexican American history and Mexican American Studies. Her expertise is on the history of Mexican American education in the Southwest, educational policies, practices, and programs, bilingual education, desegregation cases, civil rights, and educational activism.

Cristina Trejo

Program Coordinator

cristina.trejo@utrgv.edu

Cristina Trejo

Cristina Trejo
Program Coordinator
Department of Biology
Email: cristina.trejo@utrgv.edu

Cristina brings extensive experience to the education and community development efforts of South Texas. She has over two decades of experience working with nonprofit organizations, municipalities, the private sector and higher education. Ms. Trejo has specialized in community based strategic planning, asset mapping, organizational assessment, professional development and community engagement.

She currently serves as the Director of a National Science Foundation program focused on transforming undergraduate STEM education and was formerly the Associate Vice President for Community Engagement and Economic Development at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. In her higher education senior executive roles, she has coordinated and facilitated the development, implementation and evaluation of educational programs and community outreach initiatives; secured and administered federal, state and local grants; provided technical assistance in community-based strategic planning, professional development, interagency collaboration; and facilitated institutional partnerships.

Cristina has a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Houston, a Bachelor of Arts degree, with a major in Sociology, from The University of Texas at El Paso, and is currently working toward a PhD in Education and Leadership at Pacific University, Oregon.

Gisel Garza

Graduate Student

gisel.garza@utrgv.edu

Gisel Garza

Gisel Garza
Graduate Student
Department of Biology
Email: gisel.garza@utrgv.edu

Gisel Garza is a first generation graduate student who completed a Bachelor of Science with a minor in Chemistry in 2019 from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) and is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Biology degree at the same institution and is expected to graduate in Spring 2021. As a native of the Lower Rio Grande Valley, attending UTRGV gives Gisel the opportunity to stay near her family and conduct meaningful research in the area where she grew up and has a sense of belonging. As a student at UTRGV she has gained many opportunities to conduct and present her research in conferences in different parts of the world where she has been awarded for her presentations, has been able to travel in study abroad classes, and has obtained scholarships such as the Presidential Graduate Research Assistantship that have allowed her to pursue a master’s degree. Focusing on native endangered plants, Gisel has been able to publish her research in a high-quality journal and was awarded with the Ruth and Katherine Duggar scholarship for focusing her research on conserving native endangered plants.