Meet our Team!

Vivianna Alvarez joined the STARS community in August 2019. Although they now live in San Jose, they were born and raised in Houston, TX, earned their B.A from Hampshire College in Massachusetts and their M.Ed at the University of Vermont. Relationship building and utilizing education as a tool for liberation are important values in their work as they amplify educational equity. Their personal and professional commitments have consistently centered the growth and success of people from historically marginalized communities because they have been a beneficiary of transformative mentorship and leadership opportunities.

As the inaugural Associate Director of Transfer Partnerships, they provide strategic leadership and oversight of CCPP in order to promote equitable outcomes and experiences for community college transfer students of color. Vivianna works collaboratively with regional community colleges, academic divisions, student affairs departments, and the Office of Admissions to establish student-centered guided pathways and redress policies and practices that create institutional barriers for community college students. They thrive in collaborative cross-cultural environments, have a passion for weaving webs of support, and bloom at the intersections of innovation and equity. Outside of their daily work, they like to watch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean, stroll farmer/art markets, and watch rom-coms with their pup Layla.

Francia Cruz Silva is an undocu-queer womxn of color who was born in Toluca Mexico and raised in Zitacuaro, Michoacan. Francia and her family immigrated to the United States in 2004, when she was eight years old. She currently resides in San Jose, CA but is proudly from south-east LA. After graduating from Bell high school, she began her educational journey at East Los Angeles College, where she says she began to uplift and amplify the voices of the community she was representing. In 2018, Francia graduated from ELAC with her Associate's Degree in Sociology and transferred to UCSC, where she graduated with her B.A. in Sociology at the end of Spring 2020.

During her time at UCSC Francia became a student leader at the Services for Transfer and Re-entry Students program where she is still currently serving transfer students in her current role, as the Cultivamos Excelencia Program Coordinator. She is committed to supporting and creating a safe environment for all students.  She strongly believes in not just opening up doors for students, but also holding it wide open so that when they are ready they'll access the resources available to them.