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CSUB announces 2026 Alumni Hall of Fame inductees

Five graduates to be recognized for contributions to their fields, communities

By California State University, Bakersfield

October 3^rd, 2025

The California State University, Bakersfield Alumni Association is excited to announce the next class of its Hall of Fame inductees.

California Chamber of Commerce President/CEO Jennifer Barrera, retired educator Janie Flores, Kern County Superintendent of Schools John Mendiburu, adjunct professor Fred Plane and Kern County Superior Court Judge David Zulfa will be inducted into the CSUB Alumni Hall of Fame during a ceremony in February, which will mark the 20th anniversary of the event.

The honorees were chosen because of the impacts they’ve made in their fields and communities during their professional careers and beyond.

“It is hard to believe that the CSUB Alumni Hall of Fame will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this spring,” said Director of Alumni Engagement Sarah Hendrick. “We have celebrated, over the past two decades, some of the most influential and transformative graduates to walk the halls of Kern County’s University. Those ‘Runners have made a lasting impact in our local community and beyond. This year, we will be adding another five amazing alumni to this group. Congratulations John, Janie, Fred, Jennifer and David! You have set an incredible example of what it means to be a `Runner.”

The induction ceremony will take place on Feb. 26, 2026, to kick off Homecoming Week. Details on tickets are forthcoming.

Let’s meet the five inductees of the 2026 class of the CSUB Alumni Hall of Fame:

CSUB announces 2026 Alumni Hall of Fame inductees

Jennifer Barrera

Occupation: California Chamber of Commerce President/CEO

CSUB degree(s) obtained: B.A. in English, 1999

Barrera has been a leader at the California Chamber of Commerce since starting at the organization in 2010 as a policy advocate, leading the organization’s advocacy efforts on labor, employment and taxation. She was named the senior vice president of policy in 2018 and a year later was promoted to the role of executive vice president.

In 2021, the CalChamber board of directors appointed Barrera to serve as the president and CEO. She is the first woman to lead the organization. Under her leadership, CalChamber has continued to successfully advocate for all businesses in California before the executive, legislative and judicial branches of government, and assist small businesses with compliance.

Notable achievements include CalChamber’s support of California’s Equal Pay Pledge in 2023 aimed at reducing gender pay gaps, the launching of the Women’s Leadership Council. that recently commissioned a study on women owned businesses in California and the successful reform of the Private Attorney General’s Act to add provisions that protect employers.

Barrera worked nearly eight years as a defense attorney for the Sacramento-based law firm Carothers DiSante and Freudenberger LLP prior to joining CalChamber. She represented employers in state and federal court on wage disputes, discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination and other issues.

In addition to her CSUB degree, Barrera holds a Juris Doctorate with high honors from the California Western School of Law.

Janie Flores

Occupation: Retired Migrant Education Director, Region 21, Bakersfield City School District

CSUB degree(s) obtained: B.A. in Liberal Studies, 1976; M.A. in Education, Bilingual/Bicultural Education, 1983

Flores transformed her lifelong passion for migrant and bilingual education into an over 45-year career in prekindergarten through 12th-grade education across Kern, Kings and Tulare counties. Having grown up with Spanish as her first language, she has strived to make the English language-learning process better for future generations.

Flores began her career in 1976 as a migrant education resource teacher hired by the McFarland Elementary School District. She was one of only a few teachers in the district at the time who were female, Hispanic and bilingual.

Flores was instrumental in working with migrant parents to advocate for the unification of the elementary and high school now known as the McFarland Unified School District. This presented the opportunity to work with migrant students and their families together.

Flores stayed with the district until 2001. She held other roles over the years in addition to being a teacher, including serving as a summer school administrator, community liaison and as an interim assistant principal at McFarland High School.

Flores served as the principal of the Coalinga-Huron Unified School District in 2001 before joining the Bakersfield City School District (BCSD) in 2002 to oversee the district’s Migrant Education Region 21 Program.

She served as the director of the program until her retirement in 2021, during which time Flores was able to bring more programs to the district. Among them, an after-school Mariachi music program that eventually became part of BCSD’s general music program and has served as a model for other districts in Kern County. Flores also implemented afterschool/Saturday academies and summer residential programs at selected universities.

Flores has been actively involved with CSUB since her graduation in 1976. She worked with California Mini-Corps program, which provides tutoring and other support services to migrant students and provides mentorship to students interested in becoming bilingual teachers. Flores herself participated in the program when she attended the university.

While serving as the director of BCSD’s Migrant Education Program, Flores also partnered with the Mini-Corps Program, High School Equivalency Program and College Assistance Migrant Program (HEP/CAMP) to implement summer residential and non-residential programs, Saturday academies for students in grades preK-8 and trainings for migrant parents. As a component of the Migrant program, the region's Out of School Youth (OSY) were also given the opportunity to complete their high school diploma.

Flores has also been an advocate for bilingual students at the state and regional level by serving for nearly a decade on the Kern Association for Bilingual Education's board of directors.

John Mendiburu

Occupation: Kern County Superintendent of Schools

CSUB degree(s) obtained: B.A. in Liberal Studies, 1995; M.A. in Education, 2000

Mendiburu has over 30 years of experience in Kern County’s education system. He spent most of his career in the Rosedale Union School District (RUESD), where Mendiburu himself was an alumnus. He began as a teacher before transitioning to become principal of Almondale Elementary School. He then moved into the district office, where he helped manage RUESD’s finances as the assistant superintendent of business services.

He was selected to serve as RUESD’s superintendent in 2009 and helped lead significant projects in the district, including campus modernizations, the construction of a new gym at Rosedale Middle School and a renovation of the district office.

Mendiburu was recruited to join the Kern County Superintendent of Schools (KCSOS) in 2019 by Alumni Hall of Fame inductee Mary Barlow to serve as an associate superintendent. After Barlow’s retirement in 2023, the county Board of Education appointed Mendiburu as the new superintendent.

Mendiburu has overseen a major expansion of the office since assuming the role, including the creation of the Kern Future Readiness Center, the opening of the Kern County STEAM Yard and an expansion of the county Network for Children’s Dream Center.

In addition to his responsibilities at KCSOS, Mendiburu has served on the boards of several local and statewide organizations, including the California Living Museum, the Kern Economic Development Corporation and the California County Superintendents Association. He is also a member of the Rotary Club of Bakersfield.

Mendiburu has also stayed connected with CSUB over the years. He has served on the President’s Community Ambassador Council and in 2024 reinstated the KCSOS Office Welcome — a gathering of the district’s employees — at CSUB’s Icardo Center.

Mendiburu has also partnered with CSUB to host the Kern Healthcare Academy, which gives high school students interested in a career in the medical field the opportunity to get hands-on learning experience and meet with health care professionals.

Fred Plane

Occupation: Retired Chief Financial Officer of Kern Medical Center

CSUB degree(s) obtained: B.S. in Business Administration, 1978; Master of Public Administration, 1994

Plane has a long history of serving his community. He spent most of his career in county government and has been a lecturer in public administration at CSUB since 1997. Plane got his start in 1980 as a senior buyer for Kern County’s General Services Department, a position in which he would review and process purchase requests from other departments.

After eight years in the role, Plane was hired as a deputy county administrative officer in the County Administrative Office (CAO). He was then promoted in 2000 to being a senior deputy county administrative officer, a role Plane held before leaving to work for Kern Medical Center in 2007.

Through his work at the CAO, Plane oversaw the entire development process of the county budget. He worked with fellow administrators to prepare and review budgets, oversaw the implementation of spending plans and provided guidance to ensure that county policies were being followed.

Before his retirement from Kern County in 2011, Plane worked for four years as Kern Medical Center’s chief financial officer.

Plane has also been active in the community through his involvement with several organizations.

He has served on the Community Action Partnership of Kern’s board of directors for 34 years (9 years as chairman), the CAPK Foundation board for five years and as chairman of the Ridgecrest non-profit independent living facility Desert Willow Apartments for 17 years.

Plane is also the vice president of mentorship on the CSUB Alumni Association board and has helped with the operation of the `Runner Alumni Mentorship Program.

He has served on the boards of other organizations over the years, including the American Society for Public Administration, Kern County Management Council, Pathway Family Services and multiple church boards. Lastly, for the past 11 years, Plane has volunteered in the Rosedale School District and Panama-Buena Vista School District assisting first- and second-grade students in math and reading.

David Zulfa

Occupation: Kern County Superior Court Judge

CSUB degree(s) obtained: B.A. in Communications, 1991

Zulfa has served as a judge in Kern County Superior Court since his appointment in 2014 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. He had previously worked for over a decade as a deputy district attorney in the county’s District Attorney’s Office, where he tried over 80 jury trials and over 200 juvenile jurisdictional hearings.

Judge Zulfa got his start in the legal field shortly after graduating from CSUB in 1991. He briefly worked at the Bakersfield escrow company Chicago Title before deciding to pursue his juris doctorate from the California Pacific School of Law, which he earned in 1999.

Judge Zulfa spent two years working as an associate at the law firm Clifford and Brown before making the decision to join the District Attorney’s Office in 2002.

Giving back to the community has long been important to Judge Zulfa. He is a founding member of the Fred Zulfa Memorial Scholarship, which supports West High School students. He has also volunteered as a mock trial judge for more than a decade, working to expose high school students to the legal profession.

Judge Zulfa has also served on the boards of several organizations, including the Fred Zulfa Scholarship Foundation, Kern County Officials Association and the Court Appointed Special Advocates of Kern County Golf Tournament Committee.