Meet Our VISTAs
Community Engagement AmeriCorp VISTA Program
Each year, the City of Santa Rosa partners with St. Mary's College of California and Sonoma State University (SSU) to host an AmeriCorp VISTA member in the Community Engagement Office. The VISTA Member is tasked with SSU student volunteer recruitment and identifying in-service learning opportunities for students available at the City. In addition, the AmeriCorp VISTA also focuses on one engagement project for their service year. In the past, our VISTAs have assisted with community engagement efforts for the Roseland Annexation and Neighborfest Program.
This year, the City was fortunate enough to host three VISTA Members who will help in the following areas:
- Youth engagement with the Community Empowerment Plan;
- Neighborfest events in three low-income neighborhoods in Santa Rosa; and
- Youth and family engagement and outreach efforts with the Violence Prevention Partnership
For more information on the AmeriCorp VISTA Program, please visit https://www.stmarys-ca.edu/VISTA.
Meet Alexandria Anderson - 2nd Year Community Engagement AmeriCorp VISTA
“Actions speak louder than words, but words of action speak proudly.” – American Proverb
My name is Alexandria Anderson and I am an AmeriCorp VISTA with the City of Santa Rosa’s Community Engagement Office. Before becoming an AmeriCorps VISTA, I attended Sonoma State University (SSU) and graduated in the Spring of 2019 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Development and a minor in Sociology. Throughout my years at SSU, I went through the phase of being indecisive; switching between majors and potential careers. However, I always found my way back to social justice and equity work. Witnessing firsthand how I have been affected by institutional racism, experiencing the uncomfortableness at SSU and in the community, and coming to realize that I was working ten times harder than my peers just to be recognized, have been some important factors in wanting to become a VISTA member. READ MORE
Meet Leah Beaumont - 1st Year Community Engagement AmeriCorp VISTA
My name is Leah Beaumont. I am a graduate of Sonoma State University with a degree in American Multicultural Studies and concentration in Multicultural Education. I am serving as an AmeriCorps VISTA with the City of Santa Rosa’s Community Engagement Office. Part of my work includes engaging youth and families through the Violence Prevention Partnership, with the goal of creating safe and healthy communities for local youth, and creating connectedness between youth and their families, schools, and neighborhoods and communities. I am also assisting the Community Engagement Team with the Multicultural Roots Project: Stories from Santa Rosa’s Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) Communities. The current work our team is doing to promote social justice and racial equity is extremely important to me. Having difficult conversations is critical in ensuring our fellow humans are treated equally across all scopes of life. READ MORE
Meet Monse Salas - 1st Year Community Engagement AmeriCorp VISTA
Upon graduating from Sonoma State University with two Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies (Hutchins School) and Sociology in May 2020, I knew that the career possibilities that I could choose from were endless. When I tried to picture myself working in my dream career, my mind often came up blank. The one thing I did knew was that I wanted to work somewhere that would allow me to create a difference, to give back to individuals and communities in need. Today I am an AmeriCorps VISTA, working with the City of Santa Rosa’s Community Engagement Office and Sonoma State University. READ MORE