COLLEGE OF HEALTH AND SOCIAL SCIENCES SCHOLARSHIP PORTFOLIO (2013) | Page 117

Nancy Marquez
Barbara Jordan Award for Student Excellence
Nancy has exemplified community involvement through public service.
For nearly eight years, she served as a community organizer for the
Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization. By
working with community members in Contra Costa County, she: Won
the City of Oakley grants for programs for at-risk teens, and another for
a full time health clinic; organized two citizenship programs that helped
60+ residents become naturalized citizens; developed bridge-building
workshops in partnership with the Oakland Diocese to foster dialogue on
immigration issues; led initiatives at two school districts to reduce class
size, improve college opportunity through parent-teacher home visits,
eliminate linguistic barriers preventing parent engagement; secured a
commitment from the BART Board to adopt a local hire policy for East
County residents. Nancy is a first generation immigrant. She completes
her degree with a GPA of 3.64

Holly Szafarek
Barbara Jordan Award for Student Excellence

with a 4.0 GPA.

Linda Tran
Barbara Jordan Award for Student Excellence
Linda has spent six years volunteering with community based
organizations in the Bay Area. She taught English to immigrant Korean
women in San Jose, advocated for greater occupational health and safety
conditions for Chinese factory workers in Oakland, and worked with
high school youth of color in East Palo Alto. She has also spent two
years working in rural communities in Vietnam, where she focused on
anti-human trafficking issues and international development through
the lens of women’s empowerment. She also helped the Pacific Links
Foundation win the 2007 CSR (corporate social responsibility) award—
the prize was doubled by the committee because of “the amazing,
positive impression that Linda conveyed during the interview process.”
She is a 2ndgeneration Vietnamese American with a deep commitment
to social change. She graduates with a perfect 4.0 GPA.

117

SCHOOLS

For the last two years Holly has worked with Dr. Jennifer Shea on
community resiliency research— an interagency project linking SF
State with the City Administrator’s office and community based
organizations to strengthen social and organizational structures. She
has also assisted in the management of our professional certificate
programs in nonprofit management and leadership. Before coming
to us, Holly worked at the University of Michigan’s School of Public
Health, Office of Public Health Practice. As part of this work, she
spent some time working with an organization called Vision of Hope,
where she traveled to Biloxi, Mississippi to conduct focus groups,
which sparked her interest in nonprofit administration. Holly graduates