Born in Oaxaca, Mexico, she’s the second of four children from a tightly-knit family that migrated to Santa Cruz, CA. Her family was involved in farm work, and she’s a first-generation college student. Growing up in a Mexican family that faced poverty and social inequalities, Sigolène learned from her grandmother to use this struggle to fuel positive change. And that’s just what she’s doing—working with groups that try to end poverty, support domestic violence victims, and solve health issues at their root cause.
Witnessing social and economic inequities and health disparities prompted her to pursue a graduate degree to equip her with the practical skills to solve pressing public health issues. Sigolène received a bachelors degree from the University of California, Berkely and will soon receive an MPH through the Community Oriented Public Health Practice (COPHP) program in the School of Public Health (SPH) of the University of Washington, Seattle.
Sigolène applied to Éxito! becuase she thought it would expose her to innovative public health cancer interventions and models and wanted the opportunity to work collaboratively with future colleagues who share the vision and passion for health equity. "Thank you for the thoughtfulness into the programming [Éxito!] has been the BEST institute I've participated because I felt at home," said Sigolène.
