Home / About / - FGI Team (2020-21)

Meet the Team (2020-21)

Program Coordinators

Anya Batra (she/her/hers)
Cowell College | Psychology Major

Anya Batra is a second-year undergraduate student at UCSC pursuing a degree in Psychology. She is an intern for the First Generation Initiative and the Student Success Equity Research Center. The goal of this internship is to support both the FGI and SSERC by working on outreach as well as planning events in order to provide support and build a community for students at UCSC. Anya is very passionate about educational equity and hopes to be able to have a positive impact in making first-generation students at UCSC feel supported. In the future, Anya would like to use the knowledge she gains from this internship in order to eventually have a career where she can have a positive impact on the world.

Fun Fact: Anya has visited Peru and has walked up part of Macchu Picchu.

Erick Martinez (he/him/his)
Porter College | Psychology & Economics Double Major

Erick is a fourth-year undergraduate student who is pursuing a Psychology and Economics, double major. He is an undergraduate research intern for the First Generation Initiative in the Student Success Educational Equity Research Center. He is particularly interested as an economics student in seeing how marginalized, first-generation students are widely impacted by economic and social inequity when seeking higher education. As a psychology student, he knows the impact that mental health can have on the performance of first-generation students and hopes to utilize this program to be able to conduct research on the factors that can impact mental health. Erick hopes to harness his own experiences in the university to be able to assist the First-Generation initiative in establishing educational equity and a positive learning environment for all students.

Fun Fact: Erick took a 2-week road trip with his family to travel down Baja California to Los Cabos, and is planning on traveling to Spain as soon as it is safe to do so!

Jarvis Phelps (he/him/his)
College Ten | Politics & History Double Major

Jarvis is a first-year undergraduate student double majoring in Politics and History with plans of becoming a lawyer. He is an intern with the First Generation Initiative and Student Success Equity Research Center. He looks forward to assisting with the success of the program by creating a supportive and accepting learning environment for first-generation students. He hopes his previous experience in community service and student leadership will be of value to the continued success of the program and will assist first-generation students in achieving their higher education goals.

Fun Fact: Jarvis loves to cook with an emphasis on Cuban and French cuisine.

Michael Sim (he/him/his)
Crown College | Computer Science: Computer Game Design Major

Michael is a fourth-year student majoring in Computer Science: Computer Game Design. He is a Communications & Events Assistant for the Student Success Equity Research Center (SSERC) and the First Generation Initiative (FGI). Michael is interested in connecting students with the services available to them through UCSC, as well as foster a community for first-generation students and supporters. He hopes to use his experiences as a previous Media & Communications Intern for the Division of Student Affairs and Success (DSAS) to continue to raise awareness and support for mental health and wellbeing services on campus, such as the launch of the Radical Resilience Initiative and the Remote Learning Tips video series on social media.

Fun Fact: Michael performed for 3 years in Bayanihan at UCSC's annual Pilipino Cultural Celebration (PCC) through ballroom dance, traditional Filipino dance, spoken word, and acting.

Laura Stroud (she/her/hers)
Kresge College | Legal Studies and Politics Double Major

Laura is a third-year student pursuing a double major in Legal Studies and Politics. She is an undergraduate intern for the Student Success Equity Research Center and the First Generation Student Initiative. Laura is particularly interested in the intersectional barriers to success for students in navigating the secondary education system. She hopes to use her experiences to expand intentional mindfulness around supporting students and families new to the University system while building solidarity within student communities. Laura hopes to pursue a career in law centered around social justice and outreach that aims to remedy disadvantages that stem from systemic inequities.

Fun Fact: Prior to UCSC, Laura was a member of the Women’s Basketball Program at Whittier College and hopes to coach someday.

Amaris Trujillo (she/her/hers)
Cowell College | Psychology & Legal Studies Double Major

Amaris is a third-year Psychology and Legal Studies major with a minor in Latin American and Latino Studies. As a first-generation student, she is interested in supporting first-generation students in navigating through higher education and professional workspaces. She is also dedicated to establishing a sense of community amongst student groups that are often underrepresented on college campuses. Amaris is an intern for the First Generation Initiative and the Student Success Equity Research Center. Amaris’ role is to facilitate projects and engage in outreach that focuses on promoting educational equity and on fostering a positive environment in which students of diverse backgrounds can receive the resources and support needed to achieve academic and personal goals.

Fun Fact: Amaris has hiked over 70 miles in Yosemite during a summer backpacking trip.

Sai Tummala (he/him/his)
College Ten | MCD Biology Major

Sai is a third-year student working as a Research Intern at the First Generation Initiative and Student Success Equity Research Center. Sai is an advocate for community outreach and strives to support student involvement at UCSC. Sai hopes to use experiences ranging from volunteering, assisting at his high school with college applications, and personal life encounters to facilitate a positive and diverse learning environment for first-generation college students at UCSC. He understands the importance of forming a student community for marginalized students and hopes to raise awareness and further prepare our first-generation students to succeed and thrive.

Fun Fact: Sai is a trained EMT!

Fall 2020 - Interns

Samantha Chacon Sifuentes (she/her/hers)
Kresge College | Psychology Major

Samantha is a fourth-year Psychology major and a first-generation college student. She is a Professional Career Development Intern for the First Generation Initiative. Her project focuses on conducting events and research for the Student Success Educational Equity Participatory Action Research pilot project. This project aims to identify issues of educational equity and work towards social and healing justice; as well as to strategize how to promote a supportive learning environment for first-generation students. As a first-generation student, Samantha wishes to be a support system for other students, using the tools she’s received from departments, including EOP, Kresge College, and CITL. She greatly values advocating for college students’ well-being and wants to help create an environment that fosters student resilience.

Fun fact: she went on her first backpacking trip this summer and unknowingly went during the hunting season.

Yesenia De Alba (she/her/hers)
Merill College | Latin American Latino Studies Major

Yesenia is a Senior, studying Latin American Latino Studies and a First Generation student. She is a student intern for the First Generation Initiative team and her main roles are managing and planning events and performing outreach as well as participating in our new PAR project. As a first-generation student, she has found many struggles getting around campus but has found multiple ways to make her life on campus easier which she shares with everyone around her. She has had a lot of help from Merrill College as well as friends she has met along the way and wishes to do the same thing with other students. She has a passion for Hispanic Culture and children.

Fun Fact: She really enjoys having adventures with her friends every day as well as making threaded bracelets!

Program Founders

photo of Dr. Rebecca Covarrubias smiling

Dr. Rebecca Covarrubias, Associate Professor of Psychology
Pronouns: She/her/hers

Rebecca was the co-founder and faculty lead for the UC Santa Cruz First Generation Initiative (2016-2021). In this role, she provided consultation support for First Gen Initiative events, messaging, and programming. Dr. Covarrubias conducts research that contributes to student success and to strengthening our understanding of the first-generation experience. She also provides opportunities for students to connect with community and to engage in first-gen work on campus. As a first-generation faculty, she is committed to ensuring that students from diverse and minoritized backgrounds thrive at UC Santa Cruz. Her favorite part of this work is being able to collaborate with students, faculty, and staff on all of these efforts! For more information, see the Collaborative Research for Equity in Action (CREA) Lab website.

Fun fact: She LOVES watching and talking about movies!

photo of Gwynn Benner smiling

Gwynn Benner, MPA
Pronouns: She/her/hers

Gwynn was the founding staff lead for the First Generation Initiative (2016-2021), supporting our brilliant first-gen scholars who work tirelessly to engage our campus in this work. Gwynn oversaw fundraising and administration of all aspects of the program, including supporting events, hosting workshops, and engaging in outreach with faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students.

Fun fact: Gwynn loves to garden and has been creating a monarch butterfly sanctuary in her backyard that is thriving.