Beto Vasquez
Beto is the youngest of four children born to Mexican parents and was raised in Logan Heights, a community riddled with gangs, drugs & violence. Once a high school dropout, he has overcome homelessness, incarceration and addiction and managed to change the trajectory of his life. Beto recently graduated from UCSD obtaining a Masters degree in biology and ultimately plans to fulfill a doctoral degree and pursue a career as a community college administrator. Having had experienced a life of incarceration (juvenile-adult), he is all too familiar with the multifaceted challenges this population faces. He is an educational advocate for marginalized groups and a great proponent of diversity in Science, technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM) fields. He is very active in the community and has assisted with designing programs and events (for ex-offenders and men of color in STEM), and uses his story to motivate others– specifically at-risk populations.