Maria-Isabel Rocha

AVP of Marketing

Council Term: 2023-2026

Maria-Isabel is a proud immigrant, daughter of farmworkers born in Michoacan, Mexico and raised in the Coachella Valley. She is the first in her family to graduate from college but not the last. She is also the first to obtain her Master’s Degree and is in the process of becoming the first in her family to earn a doctorate degree. Maria-Isabel is a proud mom of three children, Santiago, Yaretzy, and Yamileth. She has worked for MiraCosta College for the last six years as the Scholarship Coordinator and in addition, worked with the Outreach Department as the School Relations/Diversity Recruitment Specialist.

Maria-Isabel is currently serving as the Interim Activity Grant Director for the recently awarded Title V Grant at MiraCosta College. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to this role and throughout her career she has been a champion and strong advocate for students and the community, dedicated to social justice, equity-minded system changes, and student success.

Maria-Isabel has years of experience working with federal and state grants through her prior roles, working with the National Latino Research Center of Cal State San Marcos as a Research Assistant, Community HousingWorks as a Community Engagement Organizer and with Palomar College as a GEAR UP Coordinator. As the first in her family to graduate from college, her ultimate goal is to be a bridge between Latinx students and families and higher education. Maria-Isabel aspires to continue working toward closing equity gaps and serving as a student resource through the new Title V Grant efforts. She encourages other first-generation Latinx students to dream the undreamable like her and to remember an anonymous quote that has guided her path and pushed her to be where she is at today, “If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough.”