Fabiola Bagula

Fabiola Bagula, Ph.D., grew up negotiating the hyphen between Mexican-American. Born and raised in San Diego, she often found herself in Tijuana Mexico. A pocha bilingual (y qué?), she earned her Bachelor's degree from University of California, San Diego, her Master’s and Doctorate degrees from the University of San Diego.

As a practitioner researcher, Bagula currently serves as the Senior Director of the Equity Department for the San Diego County Office of Education. In this role, she leads the development and professional learning programs focused on issues of equity in education for 42 school districts. Her work builds the capacity of school site (K-12) and district leaders across California, and her department is recognized as one of two geographic leads for equity in the state.

Bagula leads learning for educators, and partners with stakeholders and policymakers to improve equity consciousness and cultivate inclusive learning environments for all students. Over her career in public education, she has served as a teacher, teacher coach, principal, principal coach, and assistant superintendent. Across these roles, her focus has been on transforming educational systems into places of opportunity and high-quality learning for all students.

Over her career in public education, she has served as a teacher, teacher coach, principal, principal coach, and assistant superintendent. Across these roles, her focus has been on transforming educational systems into places of opportunity and high-quality learning for all students.

Eisha Buch

Eisha Buch is the Head of Teaching and Learning at Common Sense Media, an organization dedicated to ensuring all children have access to affordable, high-quality technology to thrive in today’s rapidly changing digital world.

With 15 years of experience in education, Buch leads Common Sense Education’s K-12 Digital Citizenship Program, a free curriculum used in more than 85,000 schools across the country. She guides young people in understanding and navigating technology’s impact on their well-being, social connections, and civic engagement.

Previously, Buch worked as a middle school teacher and administrator in New York City Public Schools.

Natasha Carrizosa

Natasha Carrizosa is a poet, writer, creative writing teacher, and speaker, and draws inspiration from her childhood and life experiences. Raised as the daughter of a fierce African-American mother and Mexican father, her writing reflects the dichotomy of these two rich cultures. Carrizosa is the author of "mexiafricana," "heavy light," and "crown." With a passion for the arts, she has performed and conducted workshops globally, including in Madrid, Paris, St. Lucia, New York, Chicago, and Houston. Carrizosa's impact extends to the creation of "Natty Roots & Rhyme," one of the nation's most dynamic poetry open mics.

Jim Crittenden

Jim Crittenden has over 30 years of experience in substance use prevention, with the past 24 years dedicated to the San Diego County Office of Education. As the Coordinator of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Prevention, he supports school districts in developing comprehensive drug prevention strategies that encompass prevention, intervention, treatment, and youth engagement.

Crittenden successfully oversees multiple Tobacco Use Prevention Education grants across the county, ensuring that students receive the resources and support needed to prevent or reduce tobacco use, including vaping. He also manages a contract with the County of San Diego to implement research-based substance use prevention curricula in local districts and schools.

He is an active member of several San Diego County prevention initiatives, including the Binge and Underage Drinking Initiative, the Cannabis Public Health Initiative, and the San Diego County Substance Use and Overdose Prevention Task Force. Through these initiatives, he helps provide schools and communities with valuable resources to promote student health and wellness.

Alex Ferron

Alex Ferron is Surfrider Foundation’s Living Shorelines Coordinator, focusing on coastal resiliency projects that emphasize nature-based solutions.

Her advocacy journey began in the rock climbing industry, where she advocated for land use access and co-founded a network to promote diverse female representation in the sport. Off land, Ferron has worked on the ocean as a naturalist, connecting people to the ocean by linking core memories on the water with education about the importance of marine preservation.

Previously, Ferron served as the San Diego Chapter Manager, where she supported chapter campaigns, programs, and policy advocacy alongside dedicated volunteers. As a volunteer herself, she has worked as a policy coordinator for the Rise Above Plastic program, served on Surfrider National Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Board, and chaired the Surfrider San Diego Executive Committee.

Aaron Ngan

Aaron Ngan is the Civic Engagement Coordinator at The San Diego LGBT Community Center, running nonpartisan voter engagement campaigns to get out the vote during election season. They also engage in community work, representing The Center in the San Diego Asian Pacific Islander Coalition.

Ngan is the queer son of a Cambodian refugee father. Informed by lived experience growing up in California between the cities of Anaheim and Long Beach, his multiracial and cultural background has propelled them to get involved in social justice organizing centering care, abolition, racial justice, economic justice, and LGBTQ+ justice.

In his free time, Aaron plays video games and dances. Dance is an integral part of Aaron’s self-expression as they have recently begun breaking into the San Diego whacking and voguing communities, spaces affirming queerness and allowing them to explore their gender identity. Ngan graduated from UC San Diego in June of 2022 with a double major in History and Ethnic Studies and a minor in AAPI Studies.

Alex Swift

Alex Swift is an Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drug Prevention Project specialist at the San Diego County Office of Education. In this role, Swift supports school districts and charter schools around San Diego County by providing substance use prevention curriculum, student and parent presentations, and staff training.

With a primary focus on vaping prevention, Swift is trained in several programs, including the Stanford Tobacco and Marijuana Prevention Program, CATCH My Breath Vaping Prevention Program, Project ALERT, and the American Lung Association’s INDEPTH (alternative to suspension) program and NOT (cessation) programs. In addition to this work, he serves as co-chair for the San Diego County Tobacco Free Coalition.

Jerry Troyer

A native of San Diego County, Jerry Troyer is a Founding Board Member and current Director of Relationship Development for Urban Street Angels, an organization working to end youth homelessness in San Diego County.

In 2011, when USA Founder Eric Lovett was creating the nonprofit organization separate from his church’s outreach program, Troyer’s church was seeking a social service organization to support, and came upon Lovett and his work. They became fast friends, and joined forces as founding board members.
Since then, Troyer has served as coordinator of a drop-in overnight shelter that the organization operated at Lovett’s church. More recently, he has worked coordinating the “Be A Friend” mentor program, as well as in development activities with donors and volunteers.

Troyer holds a Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate from Emerson Theological Institute. He is an ordained New Thought Minister, and lives in La Mesa, east of San Diego, with his English Cream Golden Retriever, Maggie. His son and his family, including seven grandchildren, live near Eugene, Oregon.

2023.2024 Mira Mesa High School Aspen Challenge Team

Panelists: Natalie Asis, Theo DelaCruz, Lead DeJauregui, Simon Nguyen

Team SGWB (Student Guide to Well-Being) established inclusive spaces for their peers to have honest conversations about mental health by designing a youth-driven web platform filled with resources and connections to community support, and leveraging in-person events and workshops to drive traffic to the site and guarantee its use.