Joel's journey in higher education began in 2009 at Chemeketa Community College as a first-generation and non-traditional college student. During his time at Chemeketa, Joel says he is so thankful for joining the TRIO Student Services Success Program at Chemeketa.
TRIO provided the support Joel needed to learn about college finances, academic advising, and the process of transferring to a four year college (university). In addition, the program offers students the opportunity to socially engage on campus, participate in community service, and access to academic resources (scholarships, free textbooks, tutoring).
Joel became a math and writing tutor for TRIO while also working a student job position in the Advising and Counseling Center as a Peer Assistant at Chemeketa. These college life opportunities allowed Joel to discover his skills in providing excellent social and academic services to students - leading to his career pathway in social work.
Joel completed his Associate of Arts Oregon Transfer degree at Chemeketa in 2012 and his Bachelors of Social Work degree at Portland State University (PSU) in 2014. In between those years, Joel interned at Puentes (Culturally Specific Latino Behavioral Health and Chemical Dependency Recovery Program) in Portland, and worked as a Youth Program Coordinator for Salem Keizer Coalition for Equality in Salem (Latino families and youth empowerment).
Further, Joel pursued a Master of Social Work degree at PSU and completed the program in 2015. He began his career at Rosemary Anderson High School as a Family Case Manager and Mentor Program Coordinator in North Portland and Gresham, Oregon (Black families and youth empowerment).
Joel returned to Chemeketa as a TRIO Advisor in 2017 and now coordinates student success programs as a Civic Engagement Coordinator at Student Retention and College Life. Joel is committed and passionate about improving the student experience at Chemeketa by providing culturally responsive programming, advising, and success coaching to students and colleagues.
As an independent contractor, Joel continues to advocate, support, and provide mental health services for young adults through virtual suicide prevention programming.
If you have any questions about our student government, student clubs, community service projects, and/or college life events, please contact me at [email protected].
