CSUB celebrates 2025 Alumni Rising `Runner awardees

Program recognizes impacts and achievements of five alumni

By California State University, Bakersfield

February 14^th, 2025

California State University, Bakersfield's Alumni Association celebrated the recipients of its 2025 Alumni Rising `Runner program during an awards ceremony on Friday.

Each year during Homecoming Week, the Rising `Runner program recognizes CSUB alumni of the last 10 years who are making an impact in their career and community. The deans of CSUB's four academic colleges — as well as the Antelope Valley campus — choose a `Runner each year in consultation with their faculty and staff.

Here is more information on this year's awardees:

CSUB celebrates 2025 Alumni Rising `Runner awardees

Marisa Mead, CSUB Antelope Valley

Marisa Mead was an active student while at CSUB Antelope Valley and graduated in the teeth of the pandemic. Marisa finished each of her degrees in two years. She received her associate degree in 2017 from Antelope Valley College and her bachelor’s in 2019 at CSUB Antelope Valley. In addition to her outstanding academic work, Marisa was involved in student life on campus as a member of the Student Life Advancement Committee, also known as SLAC.

She’s highly motivated and drives herself to excellence in all she does. Marisa continued her education at the University of Southern California, earning a Master of Social Work degree in 2021. She immediately began working to serve the Antelope Valley region by working with the nonprofit Child and Family Guidance Center in Palmdale.

While working full-time, she finished the hours that she needed to become a licensed clinical social worker. Marisa is a standout for finishing her degree within four years, pursuing graduate work and staying within the community to serve the people in most need.

In her current role, she provides holistic individual and group mental health services to teens, children and young adults. She also connects them with community resources to help their non-mental health needs. The Antelope Valley is the part of Los Angeles County with the lowest college achievement rate and the highest poverty rate. Marisa’s work in helping young people thrive makes the community better every day.

Marisa’s story, while a little unusual due to finishing her degrees quickly, can inspire other traditional college-age students in the Antelope Valley to pursue their higher education at Antelope Valley College and CSUB Antelope Valley. Her desire to give back to her community as a professional is exemplary of what we try to accomplish at AV. She is a problem-solver, working tirelessly with her clients to make sure they get the wrap-around services they need to succeed. Additionally, she has stayed in touch with the CSUB Antelope Valley staff and share her story with students in the hopes of inspiring and motivating them.

Juan Carlos Vieyra Navarro, College of Arts and Humanities

Juan Carlos Vieyra Navarro stands out among recent alumni because he has been an active professional, keeping himself informed and educated in multiple areas to help him improve his teaching practices. In addition, he has always communicated with CSUB teachers to assist and provide key information on which paths Spanish students can take after graduation.

Juan Carlos obtained the following degrees from CSUB: A bachelor’s in Spanish, a single subject Spanish credential and a master’s in Spanish, which has made a significant impact on Juan Carlos’ life. His dedication has been a great example of success because he has been able to work as an English language instructor and he is currently working as an English-ELA high school teacher.

Juan Carlos has grown professionally and has been able to expand his expertise in teaching and leadership. He has utilized his organizational skills and leadership for two years to lead the annual Día de Los Muertos cultural event at EPIC de Cesar Chavez High School. Additionally, he has worked on the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) committee, helping lead and gather data to prepare for the WASC visitation this year to certify EPIC de Cesar Chavez.

Juan Carlos has given back to his community by being available to share his educational journey, which includes the struggles and obstacles of being a first-generation, undocumented and low-income student. This nominee is highly passionate about sharing his journey and motivating younger generations to inspire students to continue and finish their higher education.

In addition, he has also been part of informative sessions offered by the Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, which are focused on guiding current undergraduate students and graduate students to provide options available for employment after students finish their education.

Juan Carlos has a powerful and motivational story that will inspire current and incoming students. He came to this country at 8 years old from Guanajuato, Mexico. He struggled with the language barrier and adjusting to a new culture and school system. His resilience and dreams of obtaining a profession and making his parents proud gave him the drive to continue his education journey. This meant working full-time and going to school in the evening, apart from overcoming many more barriers. He was highly resilient to decide to go to college as an undocumented student because, during the time that he started college, there were no resources or support for undocumented students. Juan Carlos graduated from Bakersfield College and transferred to CSUB after applying for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). This change allowed Juan Carlos to continue his dream and apply to the Dream Act (Financial Aid).

He has stayed connected with professors and CSUB and has stayed current on the changes and opportunities that CSUB and other institutions offer. For example, he has provided workshops in Dr. Fernández-Ulloa´s graduate teaching classes, discussing different job options and opportunities related to helping the community. He also shares how students can advance in their formation at the same time, such as through the Engaged Interpreting Training offered by California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.

Juan Carlos’ dedication has been a great example of success, and his motivational story exemplifies grit, resilience and determination. It serves as a testament to current and future students that success is attainable through hard work and perseverance, no matter where they come from or how challenging their circumstances may be.

Traco Matthews, College of Business and Public Administration

Traco Matthews has been a leader in the Bakersfield community for almost 20 years and is an active alumnus of CSUB. He served as a charter founding member of the MBA Alumni chapter, and he regularly attends events on campus, speaks to students, provides advice to faculty and administration, and celebrates CSUB’s important role in the community.

Traco has held numerous leadership positions in major organizations in the Bakersfield community, and more recently, has emerged as one of the Central Valley’s leading figures advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). He currently serves on several local boards, including the Community Action Partnership of Kern (CAPK) Foundation, Beautiful Boundless Bakersfield Kern (B3K), Building Healthy Communities (BHC), Bakersfield Kern Regional Homeless Collaborative (BKRHC), the MLK Executive Committee, CSUB’s University Police Department and President’s African American Advisory Council, Project BEST Advisory Board, the African American Network of Kern County Advisory Council, and the Hina Patel Foundation for Sickle Cell Disease.

Traco served on the Bakersfield Police Department’s Community Collaborative from 2020-2021 to help increase DEI sensitivity in the department’s policing reform efforts and was nominated by Gov. Gavin Newsom in 2023 to represent Central California on the California Racial Equity Commission.

He is the Chief Health Equity Officer for Kern Health Systems during the day, and he serves as the Senior Pastor at Church of God Bakersfield after business hours and on the weekends. Traco was a standout member of the 2017 MBA graduating class, and the experience and accompanying degree have added significant fuel to his rapid rise to high levels of community leadership.

Traco has overcome his fair share of challenges, but the things that current CSUB students most stand to learn from him are his demonstrated commitments to improving health, advocating for marginalized groups, and working collaboratively with others to achieve common goals. These traits have driven Traco to help numerous coworkers further their education at CSUB through his work as an HR professional and, more recently, to bring out the best in fellow community leaders through his work forwarding DEIB. Traco taught as an adjunct professor in CSUB’s College of Business and Public Administration from 2017 to 2023 and is actively involved in giving career assistance and professional advice to CSUB students and alumni.

Traco and his wife, Dr. Jessica Grimes, are one of Kern County’s quintessential power couples, and the community has flourished due to their efforts and leadership.

Jose Ruezga, College of Natural Sciences, Mathematics and Engineering

Jose Ruezga is rapidly rising in his career while representing CSUB as a recent graduate. He started as an intern and successfully moved to leading a large multi-year effort at Aera Energy in a short amount of time since graduation from CSUB.

As a student, Jose was proud to be a mathematics tutor. He also had students seek his help in understanding concepts for physics, electrical engineering and higher-level mathematics. His kind-hearted helping spirit was well-known among students, and he has kept that same attitude after graduation. Jose believes that CSUB is not just the university he got his degree from but the place that enabled him and set him up for success in life.

In the short time since his graduation, Jose has moved up the ranks at Aera Energy. He started as an intern during his last semester at CSUB, leading and managing a project to add automation to an existing facility. He showed enough promise to be kept on as an automation specialist through a contractor and work on Aera’s Control Systems Operations team. Jose was the youngest member of the team at 23 years old. After eight months, a position opened as a field automation specialist to be hired directly by the company, and Jose was selected for the position.

In his first year, Jose continued supporting Aera’s operations team by providing Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) programming support to keep the company’s base business up and running. The control systems operations team is the first line of defense when facilities or equipment shut down, so to be on this team was a great responsibility that requires critical thinking to solve problems quickly.

After a year or so on the operations team, Jose was promoted to the Control Systems Design and Development team, which focuses more on long-term control systems efforts. On this team, he was entrusted with leading Aera’s alarm rationalization effort, which involved reviewing alarms and ensuring that the they meet the definition and criteria of an alarm. During this project, he has been able to provide great value across all company assets and improve the company’s alarm metrics.

Jose has been a mentor for two interns, one a recent CSUB graduate and another a current student in Bakersfield College’s Industrial Automation program. He is giving back to the community by mentoring and teaching the next generation of automation professionals. Given his experience as a CSUB student looking for his first professional opportunity, he knows how important this opportunity is to these interns. For that reason, he does his absolute best to always be available to be there for them, not only for technical questions but also to answer career questions and provide any wisdom or insight needed. These two interns have now moved on and landed full-time positions. In addition, Jose has given back to the community outside work by donating every week to his church, shopping at local and small businesses, and donating to those in need.

The academic rigor of the electrical engineering program challenged Jose during his time at CSUB. But no matter how difficult the program was, he was always inspired to do the best he could. He kept the same attitude as he started and progressed into his career. He always aspires to be the most technically skilled and to be an asset to his company and team. His curiosity for learning and his determination to solve complex engineering problems has set him up for success in school and his career. He loved learning new things during his time at CSUB, which has allowed him to learn more and more each day. Without this passion for learning, he wouldn’t be where he is today.

Jose believes that students should pick a career that they enjoy and that provides them with fulfillment where they can strive to grow and learn. He also recommends that students challenge themselves by taking on work that they do not know how to do at first because perseverance can accomplish anything.

Jose has been engaged with CSUB by being involved in career fair events held by his employer and answering any questions students may have. He has kept in touch with professors and former students as well. As a student, Jose was the complete package: a great learner, enthusiastic tutor, passionate researcher and an upbeat fellow on campus.

Jose is now an electrical engineer for California Resources Corporation, continuing to focus on automation and control systems. He is also a husband to his wife Jessica and a father to his son Matteo. His family and faith have given him the support and motivation needed to develop further in his career and as a person.

Maria Santana, College of Social Sciences and Education

Like many of our students, Maria Santana is a first-generation college graduate. Maria immigrated from Mexico at the age of 3 and has risen above many challenges to be one of the most outstanding students in CSUB’s kinesiology program. Maria was named the outstanding graduating student in kinesiology in 2020. She is now an outstanding graduate and alumna. She has now earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree.

Maria went from being a CSUB student to a practicing pediatric occupational therapist who serves the community and engages with current students. She is an excellent role model for not only kinesiology majors but for all students attending CSUB. After graduating from CSUB, Maria was selected from more than 400 applicants to attend Loma Linda University’s Master of Science Occupational Therapy program. While pursuing her degree, she earned the Dean’s Award for her graduating cohort. Maria has very quickly become a bilingual pediatric occupational therapist, which allows her to bridge language and cultural gaps to provide essential care to children in the community. Maria is currently developing another skillset as an occupational therapist to also work with the geriatric population.

Outside of work and mentoring students at CSUB, Maria gives back to the community by volunteering with the League of Dreams, which helps children with special needs engage in organized athletic activities and gives every child a chance to play. Maria earned a 3.90 GPA and was a leader of a student club focused on developing careers in allied health. In addition to her excellent performance in the classroom and her leadership among students, Maria engaged in five professional presentations of her research conducted at CSUB and was a Student Research Scholar.

Maria serves the local Bakersfield community. She comes to the CSUB campus to provide a guest presentation to the Pre-Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy student club. This on-campus presentation has inspired several students to shift their career goals to occupational therapy, like Maria. She has also volunteered to mentor several CSUB students and provides job-shadowing opportunities to help students obtain observation hours in her practice. Maria has quickly emerged as a trusted colleague to guide current students. Current CSUB students are lucky to have Maria as a mentor.