Join the Chicana and Chicano Studies Department in welcoming Alum and President/CEO of AltaMed Health Services, Cástulo de la Rocha, and wife, EVP and CAO of AltaMed, Zoila Escobar, to UCSB for lunch and an awards presentation honoring the 2022-2023 recipients of the Ismael "Mayo" De La Rocha Scholarship. 

We will also be celebrating the exciting milestone of Reaching the Scholarship Fundraising Goal of $500,000!

About Cástulo de la Rocha: 

Castulo de la Rocha, J.D., is president and chief executive officer of AltaMed Health Services Corp. in Los Angeles. He has been a community health leader for more than two decades. He is a member of the executive committee of the Latino Coalition for a Healthy California; the Latino Issues Forum; AIDS ACTION; the "I Have a Dream Foundation," and the National Association of Community Health Centers, Inc. He previously has served on the board of Governors of L.A.Care Health Plan, as a corporate board member of Blue Shield of California, regional chair of the Surgeon General's Hispanic/Latino Health Initiative, and as a trustee of the Los Angeles Orthopedic Hospital Foundation.

Mr. de la Rocha's success in providing affordable and accessible health care to Latinos and the underserved has earned many commendations, including the U.S. Surgeon General's Gold Medallion for Public Health in 1992; the 1995 Community Service Award from the American Diabetes Association; the 1995 Significant Achievement Award from Chicanos for Creative Medicine, and the 1996 VNA Vantage Award from the Visiting Nurses Foundation. He holds a Juris Doctorate from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley; a B.A. in political science from the University of California, Santa Barbara, and a certificate in management from Stanford University.

About Zoila Escobar: 

As Executive Vice President & Chief Administrative Officer and President of the AltaMed Foundation, Zoila D. Escobar oversees corporate communications, branding, development, patient experience, culture and language, human resources, facilities management & development, government relations, and strategic planning and execution at AltaMed Health Services. A prolific fundraiser, her fund development experience dates back to 1984 at the American Cancer Society (ACS) as Director of Development for Special Populations. While at ACS, Ms. Escobar also helped develop national policy in uterine and breast cancer screening, smoking cessation, and HIV/AIDS for Spanish-speaking populations. Some of her most important contributions include helping change attitudes around philanthropic giving in the Latino community and steering an employee giving effort to engage 100% of the AltaMed workforce.

Ms. Escobar has a long and illustrious history focusing on AIDS awareness and prevention, with positions including Program Director of the first Latinas and AIDS program in Los Angeles County, with AIDS Project Los Angeles; and Clinic Administrator for HIV Services at the UCLA Family Planning Clinic. Ms. Escobar was also involved in policy work that led to the Ryan White Act's development and played a role in the inclusion of HIV/AIDS in the Americans with Disabilities Act. Additionally, Ms. Escobar also has HIV International experience working with the World Hemophilia Federation and the World Health Organization.

Ms. Escobar currently sits on the University of La Verne board of trustees, the California Health Care Foundation board, and the American Nurses Foundation.