Meet Our Newest Team Member, Stephanie Hernandez!

We’re thrilled to announce a new member of the team, Stephanie Hernandez!

As our new Transportation & Planning Program Coordinator, Stephanie has a passion for community engagement among hard-to-reach populations. She was born and raised in Southeast San Diego, where she was first introduced to sustainability by her father, a garbage truck driver. “As a child my father would take me to the San Diego Waste landfill to show me the negative impact waste has on the environment. Despite his broken English and third grade education, he motivated me to become an advocate for sustainable changes in my community.”

Growing up, Stephanie witnessed how hard her parents worked to provide for her and her four sisters, always emphasizing the importance of education and helping others in need. Their determination to seek a better life for their whole family inspired Stephanie to focus her career on not only serving low-income families but also improving the social well-being of working-class, border communities.

In 2017, Stephanie obtained a bachelor’s degree in International Security and Conflict Resolution with a specialization in Environment and Security from San Diego State University. After college, Stephanie served as an AmeriCorps volunteer for the American Red Cross, where she assisted in disaster relief across the state and prepared hundreds of families for emergencies through community outreach. Prior to City Heights CDC, Stephanie worked on empowering communities across Southern California to learn about clean transportation, specifically electric vehicles.

Stephanie will be joining City Heights CDC as the Transportation & Planning Program Coordinator, where she will work with community members to shed light on transportation and environmental inequities. As a bilingual organizer, she will lead our grassroots advocacy team called the Built Environment team (BET). “I’m excited to be working alongside community members and empowering them to speak on injustices affecting the community. My determination to engage community members stems from seeing my mother coordinating forums addressing educational inequalities at our local community center, so I know that community input on project and policies makes a great impact.”

Stephanie is also an alumnus of the Aaron Price Fellows Program, Barrio Logan College Institute, and proud member of MANA de San Diego. Stephanie currently serves as a Board Member with the National City Chamber of Commerce, leading the Binational Sustainability Committee.

When she has a little free time, Stephanie enjoys supporting local restaurants or traveling to new places.