Three Employees Named Latino Leaders of Influence

Three representatives from Cal State San Marcos have been chosen among the top Latino leaders in San Diego County by a pair of organizations.

Included on the list of “Top 50 Latino Leaders of Influence” by the San Diego Business Journal and the San Diego County Imperial Valley Hispanic Chamber of Commerce are Regina Frasca, director of Safety, Health and Sustainability; Dr. Renzo Lara, director of the Latinx Center; and Donna San Miguel, executive director of Community Relations.

All three CSUSM employees will be honored during a ceremony on Oct. 11 in downtown San Diego.

Frasca has served as director of what is now Safety, Health and Sustainability (SHS) at CSUSM for more than two decades. While the campus largely was operating virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic, she worked with faculty and staff to create safe in-person access to labs and offices, ensuring SHS support to allow these spaces to be unattended for periods. She also developed the Covered Cougar Distribution Center, which provides access to safety materials and personal protective equipment that otherwise was in short supply amid the pandemic.

As director of the Latinx Center, Lara has accomplished numerous goals that advance the interests of CSUSM’s heavily Latino student population, including coordinating the first Hispanic-Serving Institutions Summit at CSUSM, securing a grant from the CSU Student Success Network for leadership development and mentorship for Latino students on campus, leading the Young Men of Color initiative to recruit and retain students in collaboration with CSUSM’s Black Student Center, and establishing a Latinx STEM pathways program in partnership with AmeriCorps.

Lara also was recently elected as executive director of Encuentros Leadership, a local nonprofit that advocates for young Latino males.  

San Miguel has more than 21 years of experience in higher education. Among her recent achievements are gathering all the offices on campus that conduct university outreach to support the mission of increasing enrollment in the local service area; facilitating Leadership North County, a comprehensive program that fosters the growth of community leaders who will serve as catalysts in building a stronger region; and initiating the work that led to a grant from the CSU and a memorandum of understanding for the Coalition on Black and African American Education, which has increased the enrollment of Black students at CSUSM.

Media Contact

Brian Hiro, Communications Specialist
bhiro@csusm.edu | Office: 760-750-7306