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Esperansa Aguilera

 

Esperansa is an Educational Specialist for the TRIO Rising Scholars (TRS) Program. Before working professionally with TRS she was a program coordinator for an alternative high school program that supported pregnant and parenting teens through providing holistic support. Esperansa has a background in mentoring, advocacy, group facilitation for community building, DEI workshop programming, social event coordination, social and emotional development lesson planning, team building for staff training, and implementing equitable services. Esperansa is passionate about working towards making higher education more accessible, equitable, and inclusive to represent and support all students and staff. 

 

Esperansa was born and raised in Idaho within the Treasure Valley. Throughout undergrad she was involved with TRS, multicultural student organizations that focused on awareness and empowerment, leadership development opportunities, mentoring programming that supported local high school students realize their potential within higher education, and was a part of the student government as the Inaugural Vice President of Inclusive Excellence. Esperansa acknowledges that she is community made. As an underrepresented student at a PWI, she credits mentors and programs, such as TRIO, as major contributors to her self-growth. After receiving her BA in Social Work in 2019, she did AmeriCorps in Jackson, Wyoming at a literacy center. Her time in AmeriCorps is what really reignited her passion for education, lesson planning, and teaching and learning together alongside students. 

 

Esperansa returned to Boise State in 2021 to work with TRS. She has supported the program to create and implement introductory and social/emotional cohort classes, spread the word about TRIO through class presentations, host fun social events for students to build community, facilitate workshops for faculty and staff to learn about DEI in mentoring, and recently co-hosted a workshop to learn about community building in classrooms. Throughout her time working with TRS she has also earned her MA in Educational Leadership in 2023 from Boise State University. Currently she is working on her Doctorate in Higher Education Administration through the University of Wyoming. Esperansa also presents at conferences to share out the successes and benefits from inclusive mentoring and class practices she has implemented within the TRS cohort classes. She is passionate about serving her communities through providing equitable support and resources for their overall well being and success. Outside of work Esperansa enjoys spending time with her husband and two dogs, watching comedy shows and movies, playing board games, listening and dancing to music for fun, and the occasional karaoke performance. 

Esperansa Gomez, CMEO TRIO Rising Scholars, studio portrait by Priscilla GroverEsperansa can support you with:

  • Inclusive mentoring strategies for reciprocity and personal and professional development
  • Supporting first-generation and/or limited-income students holistically 
  • Navigating resources to equitably meet the needs of each student
  • Creating accessible syllabi and class handouts with clear information
  • Developing cohort class models to support community building amongst students 
  • Creating and implementing social/emotional development class activities 
  • Utilizing community guidelines to create productive spaces for important conversations
  • Facilitating workshops to enable individual reflection and group connectedness 
  • Acknowledging the importance of creating action items to move beyond classrooms 

To connect with Esperansa, please email her at: esperansagomez@boisestate.edu