Julie A. Mendoza, Ed.D.
Executive Director
Dr. Julie Mendoza is the Founder and Executive Director of the CAIC initiative and has more than 30 years of professional experience collaborating with educational and community leaders to develop policies and student success initiatives. In addition to her work with CAIC, Dr. Mendoza serves as a Senior Research Consultant for the California State University (CSU) Office of the Chancellor’s Division of Academic and Student Affairs. Dr. Mendoza earned her B.A. in Communication Studies and M.A. in Urban Planning at UCLA, and an Ed.M. and Ed.D. from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Dr. Mendoza will serve as Project Gateway’s Project Director and will manage and coordinate all aspects of the proposed grant activities.
(310) 612 - 1101
https://www.linkedin.com/in/julie-a-mendoza-ed-d-15543a60/
Marrissa Carrillo, B.S.
Project and Executive Assistant
Ms. Marrissa Carrillo has recently joined Dr. Mendoza in her work with CAIC assisting the development of the new initiative, Project Gateway. Ms. Carrillo’s professional background consists of over 6 years of experience in domestic and international education, community youth development, including persons with disability outreach and services. Prior to her work with CAIC, Ms. Carrillo worked with the United States Peace Corps as a Community and Youth Development Educator for 5-years in Mongolia and Fiji. During her service, she established English Language Development and Immersion Programs for local Primary, Secondary, Collegiate, Teachers and professionals in a community of 200 beneficiaries. She earned her B.S. in Child and Adolescent Development from CSU, Fullerton. With proven project proposal development and implementation skills in multicultural settings, Ms. Carrillo will serve Project Gateway as the Executive and Program Development Assistant.
(562) 606- 7747
https://www.linkedin.com/in/marrissa-carrillo-22234450/
Milagros Vidal, USC Student
Research Apprentice
Ms. Milagros Vidal recently joined Dr. Mendoza and the CAIC team to consult with leading researchers and practitioners to evaluate and implement the tools and resources needed to support California students, particularly underserved students, with the goal of completing their education. As the Research Apprentice for CAIC’s Project Gateway, Ms. Vidal works with Dr. Mendoza to analyze student feedback data, and data elements faculty need to connect students to the academic and social support services necessary to increase learning and be successful in their transfer-level statistics course. Ms. Vidal holds years of research experience working as a research assistant at the University of Southern California (USC), the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, and USC's Keck School of Medicine where she published Neuroscience research in the Journal of Neurotrauma. Ms. Vidal is a Pasadena City College Summa Cum Laude alumni who transferred to the University of Southern California. She is currently majoring in Psychology (B.A.) with a concentration in Educational Leadership and minoring in Spanish. She is a proud USC Norman Topping Scholar and Latino Alumni Association Scholar.
(626) 316- 0818
Joshua Mendoza, UCLA Student
Creative Design and Media Production
Mr. Mendoza recently joined Dr. Mendoza and the CAIC Team to develop their Creative Design and Media Production. He has over 5 years of experience in the media industry and is an internationally published photographer and the Owner and Head Photographer of Joshua Mendoza Photography. Mr. Mendoza is an incoming freshman at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). He is double majoring in Human Biology in Society (B.S.) with an emphasis in Medicine and Public Health and Business Economics (B.A.), all with the intention of matriculating into Business School and Medical School to become a cardiac surgeon. Mr. Mendoza recently graduated Cum Laude from Loyola High School of Los Angeles. Mr. Mendoza is well versed with leadership programs having attended the Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) at USC, National Youth Leadership Forum (NYLF): Medicine at UCLA, and National Congress for Future Physicians and Medical Scientists. Furthermore, Mr. Mendoza is recognized as National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar, Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) Scholar, and Society of Torch and Laurel Scholar, while receiving the FutureDocs Abroad High School Program Award of Achievement and Leadership and The National Academy of Future Physicians and Medical Science Award of Excellence.
(310) 616- 6920
https://www.joshuamendozaphotography.com