***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
February 22, 2019
Tracy Nájera, Executive Director
Pam Kreber, Associate Director
COLUMBUS – The Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio is proud to announce that Yolanda Zepeda, assistant vice provost in Ohio State’s Office of Diversity and Inclusion, will join its Ohio Advisory Board. Ms. Zepeda advocates for Latino students and other underrepresented groups on campus in her role. It is this latest focus that connects her with the mission of the Children’s Defense Fund.
With a significant background in higher education, Zepeda has seen a shift in the treatment of diversity in a university setting. Her experiences as a former student and current administrator of color within the university system inspire her to help others struggling to defend their identities and explain their presence on campus.
Zepeda grew up in Victoria, Texas and attended Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. After a stint abroad in Germany, she decided to pursue graduate school, and found herself in the Midwest at Indiana University. While in the program, Zepeda hit some of the barriers many students of color face, such as the absence of academic and social support systems as well as a university administration lacking in experience with minority students. Zepeda now works to ameliorate the lives of minority students on campus.
“Ms. Zepeda is a tireless advocate for children of color and first generation college students and works every day to make sure that they achieve their higher education goals. We are so fortunate to have her perspective and leadership represented on our board and in our work,” says Dr. Tracy Nájera, Executive Director of Children’s Defense Fund-Ohio.
Ms. Zepeda, in her role on the CDF-Ohio Advisory Board, will guide the policy priorities of the organization and add her voice to inform the needs of children and families in Ohio, especially the children of our fastest growing ethnic minority in Ohio.
The Children’s Defense Fund Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities.