Addressing the Health Impact of ACEs and Toxic Stress in California Farmworker Communities

Dr. Anuradha Rao received a B.A. degree in Biochemistry from UC Berkeley and her MD degree from UC San Diego. She completed her pediatric residency at Stanford University Medical Center. She has 25 years of experience serving children and families in California’s Central Valley. In 2021, she pioneered the establishment of Kern County’s only pediatric complex care clinic at Omni Family Health, a Federally Qualified Health Center. In addition to providing high quality primary care services to medically complex children, the program aims to support caregivers through advocacy and linkage to resources. She routinely uses Social Determinants of Health and ACE screens in her practice.

Elena Josway is a Program Director for the Health team at Futures Without Violence. At FUTURES, she collaborates with communities, organizations, and government agencies to improve the prevention of and response to child trauma, intimate partner violence, and to increase access to health and social services for survivors. Elena started her career as an attorney representing individuals and their families in their fight for access to justice at a rural civil legal services organization in California. Over her career, she has also worked with community-based non-profits that support workers and survivors of domestic violence, sexual assault, and sexual harassment.

Veronica Del Carmen Treviño-Sosa is from Nuevo León, Mexico and is from a farmworker/migrant family of 12. Veronica worked packing corn, dates, carrots; picking grapes and citrus fruits; and collecting almonds and onions. Veronica graduated from school in Mexico with a degree in Basic Education, and a Masters degree in Adolescent Psychology with a Specialization in Gender Studies in Education. She worked as a teacher and served students in primary, secondary, special education, and advised teachers. Over the course of her career in the United States, she has worked as a receptionist in a community clinic in Indio, CA, as a volunteer with “Mujeres Mexicanas” in Coachella, CA, and co-founded Líderes Campesinas. She has conducted trainings to adult and young women in a variety of areas including gender equity, leadership, wellbeing, and resilience. She co-founded Alianza Nacional de Campesinas and is currently the Coordinator of the Priority Area on Violence Against Women.

Yuriria López was born in the city of Mexicali, Baja California, Mexico, where her mother worked in the strawberry, tomato, and chili fields, as well as in packaging, and her father was a construction worker. She primarily studied in the city of Zamora, Michoacán, and completed her Bachelor's degree in Business Administration (LAE) at UNIVER University, Zamora campus. She has spent most of her time as a community leader, working for seven years at CONAFE (National Council for Educational Development), where she participated in planning and delivering competency-based education to marginalized communities in the state of Michoacán. Since 2018, she has resided in Bakersfield, California, where she began community work. By joining Líderes Campesinas as a member of the South Kern County Committee, she had the opportunity to participate in the NACES project in collaboration with Alianza Nacional de Campesinas and Futures Without Violence.