WASHINGTON, July 7, 2025 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) today welcomed 30 faculty and staff from Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI) and Hispanic-Serving School Districts around the nation to the 2025 class of E. Kika De La Garza (EKDLG) Fellows.
The EKDLG Fellows came to Washington, D.C. to learn how USDA services and programs can benefit them, their students, and their communities. USDA recognizes that HSIs are at the forefront of building and sustaining the next generation of the food, agriculture, natural resources, and human sciences workforce. "To develop agricultural leaders in both the public and private sectors, HSIs must take positive steps to engage and create partnerships to build capacity," said Dr. Lisa R. Ramírez, director of USDA's Office of Partnerships and Public Engagement.
E. Kika De La Garza Education, High School, and Science Fellows will spend one week meeting with leaders from different USDA agencies in the Washington, D.C. area learning more about national and regional issues, policymaking and research. Following that weeklong session, E. Kika De La Garza Science Fellows will spend an additional week collaborating with top scientists from USDA's Agricultural Research Service.
Since the E. Kika De La Garza Fellows Program was established in 1998, USDA has hosted nearly 450 faculty and staff, in a key effort to strengthen relationships with Hispanic-Serving Institutions. All E. Kika De La Garza fellows are faculty or staff at Hispanic-Serving higher education institutions (HSIs) or Hispanic-Serving School Districts (HSSDs). These are higher education institutions and K-12 school districts with Hispanic student enrollment of 25 percent or more. Currently, there are more than 600 Hispanic-Serving Institutions nationally serving more than two million students.
The 2025 E. Kika De La Garza Education Fellows are:
Adijat Adebola, CUNY Bronx Community College (N.Y.)
Erik C.D. Belmal, Rio Hondo College (Calif.)
David A. Byrd, Coastal Bend College (Texas)
Steven Chumbley, Texas A&M University - Kingsville (Texas)
Nicolle Fernandes, CUNY Fiorello H. La Guardia Community College (N.Y.)
Laura Fischer, Texas Tech University (Texas)
Pam Geddes, Northeastern Illinois University (Ill.)
Teesta Jain, City Colleges of Chicago - Harry S. Truman College (Ill.)
Jessica Johnson, Central New Mexico Community College (N.M.)
Jamie A. Levitt, California State University, Fresno (Calif.)
Sofía Macchiavelli Girón, Universidad del Sagrado Corazon (P.R.)
Pamela N. Martinez, New Mexico State University (N.M.)
Lindsay Peelman, Monterey Peninsula College (Calif.)
Selena Plancarte Arizmendi, California State University Monterey Bay (Calif.)
Lisanette Rosario, CUNY Hostos Community College (N.Y.)
Janitza Saavedra Lugo, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez (P.R.)
Sonali Saha, Miami Dade College (Fla.)
Ken Sweat, Arizona State University West Valley (Ariz.)
Rick Wiedenmann, Southeast New Mexico College (N.M.)
The 2025 E. Kika De La Garza Education High School Fellows are:
Daniel Delcher, Essex County Schools of Technology (N.J.)
Rafael Iniguez, Parlier Unified School District (Calif.)
Claudia Villalobos, IDEA College Preparatory San Benito (Texas)
The 2025 E. Kika De La Garza Science Fellows are:
Tolulope A. Agunbiade, Texas A&M University - Kingsville (Texas)
Alicia V. Barriga, University of Puerto Rico, Mayagüez (P.R.)
Jenny Fisher, Indiana University Northwest (Ind.)
Simeng Li, Cal Poly Pomona (Calif.)
Lin Luotao, University of New Mexico (N.M.)
Juliana Rangel, Texas A&M University (Texas)
Noemí Rodríguez, CUNY New York City College of Technology (N.Y.)
Nadim Zgheib, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (Texas)
The E. Kika De La Garza Fellows Program is part of USDA's Hispanic-Serving Institutions National Program, which is committed to supporting a 21st century agricultural workforce through professional development, workforce development and exposure to opportunities for faculty, staff and students. Through this program, USDA also partners with the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities to provide high quality internship experiences, placing more than 3,000 interns since 1994. This program demonstrates USDA's commitment to ensuring access to the Department's programs, services and resources.
To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.
