About
Ariel Hurtado, Pediatric Anesthesiologist
Ariel Hurtado was born and raised in Hollister, California. He was born into a family of five siblings. His parents were agricultural workers who stressed hard work and firmly believed in the American dream. He attended the local schools where he was active in sports, community, and his church. After high school, he attended UC Berkeley with the goal of going to medical school. He double majored in Psychology and Spanish while completing his premedical requirements. He punctuated his time in college with a year of study in Spain and multiple undergraduate medical research projects revolving around pediatric teratogens. After some time in the business world, he enrolled in medical school at the University of Michigan. He continued his student recruitment efforts thereby serving on the medical school admissions committee and continuing medical research projects in pediatric craniosynostosis.
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Dr. Hurtado returned to his roots after his medical residency and fellowship to serve the community at the hospital where he was born. Since returning to Hollister, he has focused on improving healthcare delivery by devoting himself to improving medical services in San Benito County. He modernized anesthesiology services and served in multiple leadership positions including as chairman of the Surgery Department. He was elected to represent his community district as Vice President of the Hospital Board where he was instrumental in guiding hospital decisions for four years. He continued his own medical education and earned three board certifications in Anesthesiology, Pediatric Anesthesiology, and Pain Medicine. He continued to practice hospital-based anesthesiology while starting up his own independent interventional pain management practice, Warrior Wellness, which now has two locations and employs another clinician.
As his three children approached their teenage years, he became acutely aware of the changing nature of education and professional achievement. Drawing on his years of education and medical apprenticeship, he became determined to help his community by making entry into the middle class a reality. His previous work in the hospital setting at the management level demonstrated to him that there are multiple, unfilled, and high-paying medical careers available to students with the proper exposure and training.
Working with a great team of successful like-minded individuals with diverse backgrounds led to the creation of the Education Foundation of California. Their goal is to put students on the path to financial freedom and independence so that they can reinvest in their communities.
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​Education: UC Berkeley, B.A. Psychology and Spanish (Pre-Med); University of Michigan, M.D.
About
Jessica Prado Filice, Private Banking
Jessica Filice is a first-generation Mexican American and proud Latina. Born in the rural community of Hollister, CA, Jessica learned all about the American Dream from her parents, who immigrated to the United States from Michoacan and Zacatecas, Mexico in 1969, to thrive in a new land of endless opportunity.
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In addition to the tenacious work ethic her parents instilled in her and encouragement toward higher education, Jessica also credits her older brother and sister who paved the way and led by example. Both attended major 4-year universities and earned multiple college degrees in Business and Finance.
Education: San Jose State University with a degree in Communication Studies with a focus on Organizational Communication.
About
Armando Barragan, Sports Event Director
Armando was born in Watsonville, California. One of 6 siblings. He was raised by a single mother who taught him the meaning of hard work and commitment. Armando began working at the tender age of 8, in a packing shed cutting apricots to help his mother support their family. Working at such a tender age taught the importance of an education and what it was like to help his mother provide for his younger siblings.
Armando’s mother emphasized his need to go to school and be active, as she could not single handedly provide him all that was needed to become a successful young man. In high school he played soccer and ran track while maintaining a GPA to gain him acceptance to Cal Poly SLO after graduating from high school.
Armando’s passion for sports led him to complete a BA in Recreational Administration. He took his education and began working for recreation departments in cities throughout the tri-county area. He worked in Hollister, Watsonville and Salinas. Armando has implemented programs for youth and adults, focusing on the most at-risk. Growing-up Armando saw first-hand how sports kept him focused and offered him a path to college, and now as a community leader he has spent his life providing those opportunities to the youth in our community. One of his stellar students earned the United Way youth of the year while he ran the Bread Box recreation center in east-Salinas. He currently is the General Manager of the Salinas Sports Complex Softball/Baseball Facility where he coordinated over 50 activities a year, serving more than 10,000 youth and adults per year.
His passion is also felt at home. Armando has been married for over 14 years and is the proud father of 3. All three of his kids are following in his footsteps as student athletes. His oldest son received a baseball/academic scholarship and graduated from Doane University in Nebraska. He is currently employed for the Golden State Warriors. His middle son is a freshman at Hollister High School, where he is a two-sport student athlete. His daughter is a 5th grader who carries on the family tradition playing both softball and soccer.
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Education: Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, B.A. Recreational Administration
About
Julie Carpenedo, Retired Teacher
Julie was raised in San Jose when it still had many orchards and farms. During high school and college, she studied abroad in Spain and fell in love with the Spanish culture, language, and people. She always had a goal to graduate from college and follow in her mother’s footsteps to become a teacher. Julie attended San Jose State University where she majored in Communications and continued on to receive her Spanish Bilingual Teaching Credential. She later went back to college and received a Master’s degree in Career Counseling.
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Julie’s professional experience includes teaching the primary grades as a bilingual teacher in Gilroy and San Jose. She also was the Director for the Gifted and Talented Program (G.A.T.E.) where she developed and implemented a curriculum along with peer coaching teachers regarding the special needs of G.A.T.E. students in the classroom.
She moved to Tres Pinos in 2015 with her husband and son to follow their dream of living in a small, rural community. Her family has been involved in various community organizations including 4-H. Currently, Julie is a substitute teacher for San Benito County rural schools. She enjoys working with a variety of students, including those whose parents work in the local agriculture industry. Substitute teaching allows her to continue working with youth where she hopes to inspire them to love learning and encourage them to work hard so that they can become productive members of our community.
Education: M.A. Counseling Psychology, Santa Clara University. Teaching Credential, San Jose State University. B.A. Mass Communications, San Jose State University
