People


Our Team

Albertina Zarazúa Padilla is the co-founder of MiHistoria, facilitator for our storytelling workshops, and curator of our online archive. She also performs oral storytelling with Stagebridge Theater in Oakland. Born to a farm worker family in Monterey, California, Albertina attended Mills College, where she became student body president. She was a classroom teacher for over 20 years, an Oakland Education Association union representative, and a mentor for the National Latina Health Organization. She has served on the Teacher Advisory Board of the Oakland Museum of California, and on the boards of La Clinica de La Raza and Luna Dance Institute.
Laurie Coyle is the co-founder and web producer for MiHistoria. She is a documentary filmmaker whose most recent film, Adios Amor: The Search for Maria Moreno, tells the story of a migrant mother who led an early movement for farmworker justice. Laurie documents MiHistoria’s workshops and events, and she also works as a writer and consultant for other filmmakers, artists and arts organizations, serving as a midwife in their creative process. Learn more about Adios Amor >
Andrea Valencia is a translator of both English and Spanish for MiHistoria. Her work as an interpreter and translator has allowed her to delve into different industries, among them community bilingual newspapers, social justice organizations, IT companies and contemporary art. Andrea is passionate about language and stories as a means to discover the world and foster understanding. Sharing stories of the immigrant experience inspires her work with MiHistoria.
Neus Valencia is a translator of both English and Spanish for MiHistoria. She completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Translation and Interpreting with a major in Technical Translation, and is now pursuing a law degree at the Metropolitan Autonomous University (UAM) in Mexico City. She is very much interested in the role of the mediator in modern society, especially in the relationship between nations, which is reflected in language, culture and government structures.
Wendy Bardsley loves straddling the border between art and technology. She has been telling stories on the web since its earliest days. She was the architect and developer for PBS’s Independent Lens series website for 12 years, and learned about so many different subjects that could be covered by documentary film. She has covered the Olympics and mountain climbing expeditions and works with nonprofits, artists, and filmmakers. She was a founding Council member of the Calle 24 Latino Cultural District.
Jennifer Vasquez is the social media strategist for MiHistoria. She was a Chicana Latina Foundation scholarship recipient while she was studying sociology at UC Berkeley, which is how she got involved in the MiHistoria community. Storytelling is an essential component of Jennifer’s work as a mentor and college advisor to high school students in southern California. Her role on MiHistoria’s team feeds her creative side while expanding her expertise in technology, platforms, engagement, and advertising.
Ivette Contreras is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in Chicanx and Gender Studies as she transitions to a 4-year university. She is investing time into highlighting the forgotten history of the Latinx community as she navigates through higher education. Her position as the Program Assistant for MiHistoria has sparked her passion to help others use their power through storytelling.

MiHistoria’s Advisors

Alicia Orozco has dedicated her life to serving the disenfranchised. She joined Chicana Latina Foundation in 2010, leading the “Internet for All” initiative that provided digital literacy and connected over 1,500 families to the Internet. Prior to joining CLF, Alicia held positions in the public and private sectors, including the California State Legislature and Business Design Associates. As CLF’s Manager of Administration and Special Projects today, Alicia uses her decades in project management, development, and community organizing to further CLF’s mission to empower Latinas. She loves to read, garden, knit, dance (after all, she is Cuban!) and write. As a sister, aunt, mother, and grandmother, Alicia enjoys more than anything spending time with her family.
Mily Treviño-Sauceda, M.A. was born into a family of migrant farm workers, and volunteered with the United Farm Workers at an early age. As a widow with a small son, she earned a BA in Chicano Studies with a minor in Women’s Studies from CSU Fullerton, and conducted a survey among farm worker women exploring the problems they faced, including discrimination, sexual harassment, domestic violence, pesticide poisoning, poor housing, and low wages. Mily served as Executive Director of Líderes Campesinas until 2009, when she established the Alianza Nacional de Campesinas, whose mission is to develop farm worker women’s leadership into a national movement.
Patricia Zavella, Ph.D. is Professor Emerita of Latin American and Latino studies at UC Santa Cruz. Her latest book is The Movement for Reproductive Justice: Empowering Women of Color through Social Activism. Among her other works are I’m Neither Here nor There: Mexicans’ Quotidian Struggles with Migration and Poverty. She is the co-editor of Women and Migration in the U.S.-Mexico Borderlands; Chicana Feminisms: A Critical Reader; Perspectives on Las Américas; Telling to Live: Latina Feminist Testimonios; and Situated Lives: Gender and Culture in Everyday Life. Patricia has received numerous awards over her illustrious academic career, and has been instrumental in framing MiHistoria’s storytelling work in the context of migration, and the interconnections of culture, family, work, gender and agency.