OUR MISSION IS SIMPLE

To create a culture
of empowerment.

Our organization was founded out of a need to address the systemic and structural challenges that exist for youth of color.

Mental Health professionals, Educators, and Oakland youth collaborated to create empowered work-based learning and youth engagement programs that positively impact young people’s experiences and social emotional well-being.

Together we have created sustainable dynamic programming within the school system and the East Oakland community that is now being replicated and grown in schools and communities throughout California and beyond. Yup!

MEET THE TEAM

Our original founders identify as female Californians with mixed heritage. They built their bond through collaborating and supporting young people at a school in Deep East Oakland. They each came to a school setting after time spent supporting folks impacted by incarceration and systemic injustice. They knew that one of the most effective ways to address the incarceration of Black and Brown individuals is to have employment for them and have money in their pockets.

All of the Ocelotl team supports the community and each other by curating strategies that work.

  • Robin Noel Morales, is trained as a psychotherapist and a licensed LMFT operating a private practice as The Light Inside. She continues her learning in other traditional holistic healing modalities.

    Robin began her work in public service with underserved and vulnerable populations, incarcerated and sexually exploited minors, foster care youth and youth in transition. She has developed and supportive systems for them and assisted them in navigating institutions with more awareness and choice. She has provided clinical services and advocacy in and out of detention settings and supervised a clinical team. She developed an expanded advocacy model for system involved youth in San Francisco with the Youth Justice Institute. She is rooted in strong social justice values and also demonstrates the ability to hold a holistic perspective towards health and action.

    Most recently, Robin works with Alameda County Health Care Services Agency, Center for Healthy School and Communities coordinating the mental health services at Madison Park Academy Middle and High School in East Oakland and previously helped to implement and support the health and wellness model of the REACH Ashland Youth Center. She also provides clinical consultation for Alternatives in Action High School.

    She holds a bachelor’s degree in Social Justice from New College and a master’s degree in counseling psychology from the Wright Institute and is a certified yoga instructor through the Niroga Institute.

Meet the Team

  • Kimberly Zavala Cruz

    Kimberly Zavala is part of the graduate class of 2025 at MPA and is currently in her first year at San José State University. As a dedicated Ocelotl youth participant, she particpated in both the Mentoring and Language Navigator programs. During the Peer Leadership Internship, Kimberly regularly attended training sessions as a steady and supportive presence. Her role was rooted in encouragement, care, and consistency helping interns feel seen, valued, and supported. Kimberly’s strength and commitment to the program reflect the heart of the Ocelotl model: consistency and accountability, builds trust. Following in Aimee’s footsteps, she supported her peers as a Program Lead for the 2025 Community Corp Summer Interns.

  • Julia Carreño

    Julia Carreño is a third-year student at San José State University, with her major focused on Criminal Justice. As a high school student at MPA in Oakland, Julia was actively involved in Ocelotl programs like Mentoring and Language Navigators. These early experiences shaped her commitment to creating supportive, healing spaces for young people, where she continues to grow her passion for youth leadership. Julia is passionate about breaking generational cycles and helping youth recognize their power, voice, and worth. She leads with empathy, clarity, and the belief that every young person deserves to be seen, heard, and supported.

  • Aimee Martinez

    Aimee Martinez served as a Language Navigator at Madison Park Academy for the 22-23 school year. She not only supported International students (Newcomers) to do better, but the teachers she worked with all felt that they learned from her as well.

    Aimee is now in her third year at San Jose State University, studying forensic psychology. For the past two years, Aimee continued to work with Ocelotl helping to update and implement the training for the next cohorts of Language Navigators.

    She began supporting with administrative duties, and consulting with her vision for where she thought we could grow. She has been instrumental in providing the consistency and focus that allowed us to make the move into our new space and also holds a vision for creating a coalition of Ocelotl program alumni that can continue to guide and focus our energies towards where we are needed and most effective.It is Aimee’s vision for us to navigate with the Alameda County Office of Education on the creation a model of our programming specifically for the pregnant and parenting students at Burke and Hobbs high schools. She is and advisor for our board and has assembled a cohort of alumni and will be working with Robin to create a pilot program specifically for these High School mothers.

  • Luis Bibiano,

OUR BOARD MEMBERS

  • Arianna grew up in Half Moon Bay, CA where she witnessed primarily Latino students too often treated as "less than" and not given the same educational and career-building opportunities as their White or wealthier peers. These experiences growing up Chicana have informed the last 10 years of her work at the Marcus Foster Education Institute where she serves as the Director of Improvement Initiatives focused on systems change and educational equity. As a board member with Ocelotl she brings her knowledge and expertise in non-profit partnership and management, program development and doing so in ways that engage and lift up the voices and talents of young people so they can be the drivers of their own experiences and the way change occurs in their communities.

  • Vanessa is a proud Mission native. She has worked with youth, families, and community since her youth. She will begin her Masters in Social Work program at SFSU this Fall 22. Her main goal is to make mental health easily accessible and relevant for brown and black communities. Vanessa has been breaking barriers alongside co-founder Robin Morales for over a decade. Experiencing first-hand as a youth recipient, as a colleague of many years, and now proud board member for OCELOTL. She wholeheartedly believes and stands by what OCELOTL pours into our communities and looks forward to making shit happen for our people!

  • East Oakland born and raised, Chris understands the importance of uplifting Oakland youth voices. Throughout high school, he tutored and mentored middle schoolers in the after-school program and then found different ways to continue supporting his community during his time at UC Berkeley. Now he serves on the board of Ocelotl bringing a unique perspective as someone who was once an Oakland student.

  • Passionate about empowering the next generation, Nan has witnessed firsthand the transformative power of meaningful educational experiences when they are paired with culturally competent social-emotional support. With over 7 years of impactful work as a school counselor in Bay Area public schools, her work drives her commitment to youth development and makes her uniquely drawn to serve on the board of Ocelotl, a pioneering work-based learning and youth engagement program.