Meet Our Staff
Kelsey Hoie Ferrell, CARE Director
831.459.1053she/her/hersAs the CARE Director, Kelsey serves the campus community as an advocate, manager, and content expert on interpersonal and sexual violence prevention. She is committed to approaching both prevention and intervention work from an intersectional and community-based approach.Prior to moving to sunny California, Kelsey served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the Eastern European Republic of Moldova. In Moldova, Kelsey served as the director for an anti human trafficking initiative. She also worked on women’s empowerment programs and learned Romanian. Her education includes a bachelor's degree in Humanities from Fort Lewis College and a master’s degree in Conflict Resolution from Portland State University. She completed her master’s thesis on culturally responsive collaborative program evaluation for immigrant and refugee community programs.
Outside of work, Kelsey is the seeing-eye human for her blind dog, Loki. She is a maker-of-things including knitwear, patterns, jewelry, and has a current obsession with tapestry weaving. Kelsey also loves hiking in the redwoods, making homemade apple pie, and reading as much as possible.
Jazmin Jauregui, Advocate
831.459.1746she/her/hers
Alison Hanson, Prevention Education Coordinator
831.459.2721she/her/hers
Yesenia Melgoza-Fernandez, Intake Coordinator
831.502.2273she/her/hersYesenia is a first generation Mexican-American college grad from Watsonville, CA. She received her B. A. in Sociology and Chicanx Studies from UCLA. She has 4+ years of experience providing domestic and sexual violence education and advocacy in underserved communities in Los Angeles and Santa Cruz County. Yesenia is most looking forward to becoming one with the UCSC community!Outside of work, she is a coach for the non-profit, Watsonville Starlings Volleyball Club where she trains girls ages 11-16 in underserved communities in Watsonville the sport of volleyball. Yesenia also enjoys hanging out with her dog, Ginger and is an avid makeup enthusiast.
Carolyn Sohn, Advocate
831.459.3874she/her/hersAs an advocate, Carolyn works directly with survivors of interpersonal violence, and the people who care for survivors in their own communities. She considers advocacy as a commitment to the resilience, strengths, and self-determination of survivors, and a responsibility to educate the wider community on the realities of interpersonal violence.
Before arriving at the UCSC campus in September 2019, Carolyn was a CARE advocate and intake specialist at UC Santa Barbara. She received her advocate training at Standing Together to End Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence Solutions, based in Santa Barbara. She's proud of her journey as a first generation college student and second generation Korean-American, and is thrilled to join the UCSC community.
Lourdes Dizon, CUIP Community Support
Lourdes Dizon
She/Her/Hers
CUIP Community Support
I love being able to emotionally support the community and offer survivors safe spaces. I train in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and I am super double jointed.
Sherry Tran, Community Support Intern
Sherry Tran
She/Her/Hers
Community Support Intern
Hello there! My name is Sherry and I am a Community Support Intern at CARE. I am so thankful for the opportunity to serve our campus community by providing emotional support and helping people get in touch with the resources they need, along with the opportunity to build up relationships with other organizations and resources on campus.
I am a senior studying Art & Design: Games and Playable Media (go AGPM!!), a Leo, an ENFP, and Type 4 Enneagram. A couple of my interests are graphic design, calligraphy, hiking, reading, and video editing.
Allison Dean, Community Support Intern
Allison Dean
She/Her/Hers
Community Support Intern
I enjoy being an active member in my community and being able to help grow others and myself. I was in a steel drums band! There are only 2 in the state of Arizona (and we were the best!)
Isis Casillas, Community Support Intern
Isis Casillas
She/Her/Hers
Community Support Intern
After volunteering with CARE last year, I like that I now have the chance to not only continue to spread the word about what we do, but I can work directly with survivors in offering emotional support and guidance. I am an avid reader of crime, romance, and erotic novel (fan of nora Roberts, Sandra Brown, and Lisa Roberts). I also love dogs and will wave hello to all dogs I see on the street (I don’t discriminate between breeds).
Gianna Passalacqua, CUIP Prevention Education
Gianna Passalacqua
She/Her/Hers
CUIP Prevention Education
I enjoy giving folks the language and tools to heal from experiences of violence. I taught myself how to knit.
Carrie Vasquez, Prevention Education Intern
Carrie Vasquez
She/Her/Hers or They/Them/Theirs
Prevention Education Intern
I am a queer xicanx true crime lover. As a Prevention Education Intern, I enjoy facilitating workshops geared toward communities that I am a part of, specifically the QTBIPOC community. I have a persistent pupillary membrane in one eye (Google it).
Rojina Bozorgnia, Prevention Education Intern
Rojina Bozorgnia
She/Her/Hers or They/Them/Theirs
Prevention Education Intern
I love being able to spread my knowledge around the community and connecting folx to the right resources. I have memorized the entire script to Clueless. Ask me to recite it on the spot.
Anna Mulrooney, Prevention Education Intern
Anna Mulrooney
She/Her/Hers
Prevention Education Intern
I love being able to spread awareness across UCSC to make our campus a safer place for everyone. A fun fact about me is that I’m the biggest dog lover you’ll ever meet. If I see a dog across the street, I will 100% cross the street to go pet it.
Connor Alexander, Graphic Design and Marketing Intern
Connor Alexander
He/Him/His
Graphic Design and Marketing Intern
I love that I can use my skill in the arts to educate and aid people in the communities I exist in. A fun personal project I'm working on is writing and illustrating my own sci-fi comic book.
