Andrea Parra (she/ella) is deeply passionate about student affairs, health equity, and ensuring every college student has access to the resources they need to thrive. She currently serves as the Program & Operations Coordinator at the Basic Needs Center, where she brings a strong commitment to supporting students’ holistic well-being.
Originally from Southern California, Andrea earned her BA in Public Policy and Anthropology from UC Riverside, where she also began her professional journey in student affairs with ASUCR. She later pursued her Master of Public...
I started my journey in Higher Education at UC Santa Cruz where I earned my BA in Anthropology with a minor in Education in 2018. During my time at UCSC, I worked to serve under-resourced, low-income students in both a professional and volunteer capacity. Through programs such as EOP, I was able to help students develop skills regarding time management, navigating mental health awareness, exploring career options, budgeting, and creating class schedules. I was involved in multiple student organizations that worked to serve students facing hardships as well as addressing issues of race,...
As a first-generation college graduate from a low-income background, Bianca Ramos (she/her) is passionate about centering the lived experiences of students and providing them with individualized support with care and compassion. She earned a B.A. in Psychology and Education from UC Irvine and a M.Ed. in Higher Education and Student Affairs Administration at the University of Vermont, where she experienced living in the snow for the first time. Bianca has experience in K-12 tutoring, academic advising, residential life, and program management, including developing and implementing...
Hi y’all! My name is Brian Glickman and I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. From there, I hopped on up to Walla Walla, Washington to attend my undergraduate institution. I spent seven years at Whitman College, four as a student, and three as a Resident Director. In my role as a Resident Director, I worked to help build and foster communities centered around belonging, open-communication, and joy. I’ve also been known to engage in some more out-of-the-box, food-based events, such as butter dancing or greased watermelon relay-races. To be clear, these are both exactly...
Since moving to the Bay Area 7 year ago, I continue to build relationships with community oriented programs and organizations that advocate for hxstorically underserved communities.
My connection to my work comes from my shared experiences of adversities that many communities are facing. I have worked with K-12 schools, universities, and adult day programming within the Bay Area as an advocate for basic needs, social emotional learning spaces, and additional campus or community resources. My goal is to assist students and families with navigating their educational pathways with...
Joyce Huchin graduated from UC Berkeley in Spring 2021 and has been involved with the Basic Needs Center since their first semester as an undergraduate. Their work is motivated by their own experience as a low-income and first-generation college student from a mixed status family, and the resources from the Basic Needs Center were central to their success as a student. Previously, they served as the ASUC Student Advocate, an elected position that oversees the Student Advocate's Office (SAO). SAO is an executive, non-partisan office that offers free and confidential casework services and...
My journey has always guided me towards work that is rooted in justice, transformation and healing. Improving the health outcomes of individuals and communities by way of building relationships and lifting the collective voices of communities is at the core of my value system as these issues are connected to larger issues of social justice. My past and current experiences as a social work professional for the past 12 years has been in the juvenile justice and mental health fields. When I learned about the Basic Needs efforts at UC Berkeley, I knew I had found...
I grew up in the border region, splitting my time between El Centro, California and Mexicali, Mexico before moving to Chula Vista, California. Growing up in a binational environment gave me a front-row seat to both the inequities in our world as well as the power that community care can play in ensuring folks have access to their basic needs. After college, I worked at several organizations helping connect individuals to social safety net programs while simultaneously working with external partners to improve system delivery for immigrants, unhoused individuals, college students, and the...
Miles Jordan (he/him/his) is a dedicated social worker with extensive experience in providing comprehensive care and support to diverse populations. He excels in program development, policy implementation, and team collaboration, leveraging strong communication and leadership skills to foster meaningful connections with stakeholders. Passionate about social impact, Miles is committed to making a positive difference in the UC Berkeley community. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, skating, reading, and trying out new forms of artistic expression.
Growing up I developed a strong connection to sharing food with those around me, since that was how I learned to connect in a community without many siblings or extended family nearby. The thing that higher education gave me was a deeper sense of interconnectedness and also the complexity in our bodies and lives, related to, but also beyond food. I was shaped by this community and am honored to work towards a more holistic basic needs program, but also motivated to support students in the ways that I felt supported in my time at Cal. If we can ensure that food is a right –...
