Local women leaders share empowering stories from their journeys

On Thursday, April 24, CSUMB President Vanya Quiñones’s final installment of the 2024-25 President’s Speaker Series — titled “Strengthening Community: Local Women Leaders” — shined a light on the power of womens’ stories. 

“We are committed to social mobility and offering the kind of experiential learning opportunities that allow our students to develop the critical skills that drive their future careers,” said Quiñones in her opening remarks, “and will set them up for the same kind of success we will hear about from our panel of women leaders today.”

The panel of four influential local women shared many stories from their lives, including struggles and challenges, mentors who helped them, the role of education in their journeys, and successes they achieved.  

The panelists included: 

• Deneen Guss, Superintendent of Monterey County Office of Education
• Kathryn Avila, Real Estate Entitlement, Investments and Special Projects Lead for Avila Construction Company, and Board Chair of the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce
• Anna Velazquez, Mayor of Soledad and District Director for State Senator Anna Caballero
• Mindy Carpenter, Partner and Vice President of Finance for Axis Ag, Inc. 

The event was moderated by Nizhoni Chow-Garcia, CSUMB’s Associate Vice President for Community and Belonging, who posed meaningful questions to draw out evocative stories. 

The first question, fittingly, was how higher education has supported their professional and personal journeys. 

“My degree has helped me in my career every step of my life,” said Deneen Guss, an education administrator. “The most important part was going through my doctorate program. You learn research. It develops that curiosity. ‘How can we solve problems? How did we get here?’”

Kathryn Avila of Avila Construction Company said her education journey was “a bit backwards.” 

“High school taught me how to learn, college taught me how to have fun,” she said. “High school was very rigorous, but I had the school thing nailed by the time I got to college.”

She said she experienced social growth in college, and later learned the importance of relationships in professional life.

“I was unconventional,” said Mindy Carpenter, who comes from a third-generation Salinas Valley farming family and attended two years at Hartnell College. “I did good in school, but I wasn’t encouraged to go to college… In my experience, I just fought really hard. I’m a lifelong learner.”

Anna Velazquez, the mayor of Soledad, said that in addition to financial difficulties, as a first-generation Mexican-American she had to contend with cultural values and expectations. 

“There’s a lot of beliefs about what women should do,” she said. “I had a lot of rigorous rules. I couldn’t wait to get to college but didn’t know how to get there… In my time, if you leave your family it was because you’re going to get married.”

She eventually attended Hartnell College and discovered independence when she started working. 

Moderator Nizhoni Chow-Garcia asked the panel about defining moments and mentors, which elicited some of the most personal and inspiring responses. 

Velazquez talked about her father.

“In childhood, my father was part of the UFW,” she said. “During the famous 1970s lettuce strikes, my father was on strike, going to marches and rallies. Seeing a lot of the engagement with his colleagues, fighting for justice issues and workers rights, I remember his spirit – fighting for what he believed was right. This is in my blood.”

Carpenter talked about a certified public accountant she encountered when she was 21. 

“I was hired by a young, glamorous CPA who had beautiful nails. It was she and I for several years. We hired people. She entrusted her list of clients to me,” Carpenter said. “She was very sure of what she said. She knew what she said, and she meant it. ‘I want that.’ I want to be so confident in myself that [others] believe in me, that I believe in myself.”

When that CPA wanted to leave her practice, she offered Carpenter her bookkeeping clients and offered to give her everything needed to start her own practice. 

“I did it for 14 years,” Carpenter said, which gave her skills, confidence, and the freedom to be present for her family. 

Avila talked about the inflection point that came from tribulation, from when her elementary school was closed due to budget issues. 

“[Going to] a new school district was a defining moment,” she said. “There was a fantastic cohort of people in that school. It upped the caliber of my educational pathway… I went to a very difficult high school, but it paid off in the end.”

Guss named her mom, 6th grade teacher, and the first principal she worked for as influential mentors in her journey. 

“My favorite mentor — still a great, great friend — was my former secretary Lucy,” she said. “My first [vice] principal job, this angel sent from heaven, beautiful Lucy, comes right up to me and says ‘Hello honey, what’s your name?’”

“’Deneen,’” Guss said she told her.

“Are you our new vice principal?” 

“Yes!”

“Do you know what you’re doing?” 

“No.” 

“That’s ok. I’ve been here 20 years and I know how to do your job and I’m going to show you everything you need to know to succeed.” 

Guss told the audience: “I still hold tight to everything she says.”

The panelists talked about how they stay hopeful and energized in their work, about the impact they hope to have on their community, and about their sources of strength and resilience. Avila, who said that the construction industry she’s in is dominated by men, summed up the prevailing sentiment left by the panel. 

“Women’s spaces are really special,” she said. “There’s a lot of power when a bunch of smart women get in a room.”