Our Team

Rafael Avendaño

Executive Director

Rafael has been in public service for the past twenty years and has over ten years of nonprofit management experience. Rafael has served on councils, boards, and advisory spaces for the past 9 years. As RWCT Executive Director, Rafael enjoys leading a common community agenda to best support schools, the community, and the overall Redwood City and North Fair Oaks environment. Rafael believes that with the support of the community, youth, and local county government, families can achieve their dreams.

Rafael’s drive, unique teaching ability, and belief in the power of mentorship have helped him inspire children and adults to find the confidence they need. Rafael currently holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Public Management with a specialization in Human Resources from Colorado State University and has earned his Master’s degree in Organization and Leadership from the University of San Francisco. In his free time, Rafael loves to spend time with family, go to church, and volunteer in the Redwood City and North Fair Oaks community. He currently also serves as a board member of the St. Francis Center and Redwood City Child Development Program. Rafael also loves spending time coaching, exercising, or riding his bicycle all around California.

Elisa G. Chavez

Collective Impact Coordinator

Elisa G. Chavez graduated from UC Riverside in June of 2020 where she received a degree in Economics. She is passionate about empowering the youth to create change in their communities. Throughout her high school and college career, Elisa dedicated her time to community service. She has participated in the planning of the OYE (Orgullo Y Educacion) Youth Conference where she was also the Master of Ceremonies. In 2016, where she was named the Youth of the Year for the Redwood City Boys & Girls Club. She helped promote the importance of higher education with the Latino Union club at UCR. Elisa’s enthusiasm in helping create change in the community, energy, and eagerness to learn will help her succeed in her role.

Elisa brings in her past experiences working in the community and her eagerness to help youth succeed in their goals. She is passionate to create collaborative spaces to catalyze systems change.

Kelly Clavel

Community Development Policy Analyst

Kelly is a recent graduate from Stanford University with a degree in Political Science. She is passionate about educational equity, especially for minority students in inner-city districts. She authored an honors thesis about how Trump-era policies affect Latinx students' classroom experiences in urban areas. She hopes to devote her career to working in policy-making spaces. She has worked as a policy intern at a non-profit law firm on their education team, where she analyzed policy and often helped as a Spanish translator. She has also worked as a research assistant for Stanford's Graduate School of Education and for Stanford's Political Psychology Research Group. Kelly also worked at an immigrant rights nonprofit in Downtown Los Angeles during the peak of the COVID pandemic, where she helped distribute state government relief aid for undocumented individuals.

She works closely with Welcoming Redwood City, engaging in community outreach initiatives, and conducting community-based research at Stanford's John Gardner Center.

Benjamin Juarez-Garcia

Public Relations Specialist

Benjamin Juarez-Garcia is a first-generation Mexican immigrant who moved to the Bay Area when he was six years old. From a young age, he regularly attended local protests for immigrant rights in San Jose, which sparked an interest in social justice. Benjamin attended Cañada College and later transferred to San Francisco State University, where he studied American Politics. While in college, Benjamin discovered his love for political science and engaged in research, where he studied the effects of politics in marginalized communities. Benjamin has experience working for SF Rising, an organization that is a part of a larger coalition named Power Action California. There, he continued his fight for social change by focusing on community engagement in the San Francisco area. He is particularly interested in combatting the school-to-prison pipeline and improving access to higher education within the Latinx community. At Redwood City Together, he primarily works with the Promotores, assisting them with community outreach and youth development.

Mia Bennett

Shinnyo Community Impact Fellow

Mia Bennett recently graduated from Stanford University where she studied Human Biology with a concentration in maternal and child health. During her time in college, she became passionate about understanding how cultural, environmental, and personal experiences shape our approaches to health and well-being. She strongly believes in the power of knowledge, community, and autonomy in supporting healthy and joyful lifestyles. From experiences such as working at the Blue Zones Project in Salinas, California, she has grown to love the challenge of designing innovative approaches to addressing health inequities, particularly those faced by children in underserved communities. Mia is also passionate about improving access to reproductive healthcare and hopes to expand on her experience at Stanford Planned Parenthood Generation Action as she pursues a career in medicine. At Redwood City Together, she is excited to learn from the vibrant people and community around her.

Ivana Rodriguez Arias

Safe Routes to School Coordinator

Ivana Rodriguez Arias is a first-generation college graduate from San Jose State University where she earned her degree in Psychology with a minor in Child and Adolescent Development. She is a dedicated professional committed to community well-being and equity in education. During her college career, Ivana served as the president of an organization called Women Wellness. She worked alongside her team to create and uphold a social community that empowers individuals to make informed choices about their well-being by developing a network on campus to help them reach their fullest potential. In her role as the Late-Night Tutoring Coordinator at San Jose State University, Ivana honed her skills in providing academic support and creating inclusive learning environments. She supervised a team of tutors, ensuring effective assistance to students in STEM fields. Additionally, as the Digital Inclusion Hotspot Coordinator, she addressed the digital divide by providing internet access and digital literacy instruction to underserved student populations, connecting them with online academic resources.

Currently, at Redwood City Together, Ivana serves as the Safe Routes to School program specialist. In this role, she contributes to a nationwide initiative that encourages and enables students to walk and bicycle to school. Through partnerships with The San Mateo County Office of Education, Redwood City Parks and Recreation, Redwood City School District, and Redwood City Together, Ivana works to implement projects and activities that improve the health, well-being, and safety of children in the community.