> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.svlatino.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Listen First, Then Build | Reese Alvernaz Collegiate Cultura Ambassador - URL: https://www.svlatino.com/blogs/cultura-ambassador/listen-first-then-build-reese-alvernaz-collegiate-cultura-ambassador/ - Published: 2026-10-30T16:30:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-30T16:30:00.000Z - Description: Santa Clara engineering student Reese Alvernaz founded Harvesting Justice to amplify farmworker voices. Meet SVL’s newest Collegiate Cultura Ambassador. - Author: Silicon Valley Latino - Tags: Cultura Ambassador **Publisher’s note:* My daughter has a blue sweatshirt that reads “Our veggies are Moon Raised,” a proud nod to Half Moon Bay’s harvest. I love that phrase. But every Moon Raised vegetable is also raised by farmworker hands, and too often those hands go unseen. Reese Alvernaz has chosen to see them, listen to them, and stand alongside them.* --- *Reese Alvernaz is a sophomore at Santa Clara University, a civil engineering student, and the founder of a farmworker advocacy initiative. Ask what drives him, and he doesn't start with what he has built. He starts with listening.* ### **Listening Comes First** Farmworkers feed this country. Too often, decisions about their lives are made without them in the room. Reese Alvernaz is building a different model. He is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering with minors in Construction Management and Spanish, and his work lives where engineering, social justice, and civic engagement meet. The goal is simple and demanding; more equitable, resilient, and inclusive communities. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/da/c2/dac234fa-0ada-4c3c-ab9c-95843168f30c/content/images/2026/10/IMG_48301.png) *“Meaningful change begins with listening, building relationships, and working alongside communities rather than speaking on their behalf,” Reese says.* That belief runs through everything he does. ### **Harvesting Justice** Reese is the Founder and Outreach Director of **Harvesting Justice**, an advocacy initiative dedicated to amplifying farmworker voices and advancing meaningful change. Through research, community partnerships, educational workshops, and public advocacy, Harvesting Justice raises awareness of systemic inequities and mobilizes communities to act. His advocacy has carried him far from campus. He represented youth voices at the **Ignatian Family Teach-In for Justice** in Washington, D.C. He advocated for sustainability and pro-immigration legislation during the **Sacramento Laudato Si’ 10th Anniversary Advocacy Pilgrimage**. And in 2025, he collaborated with **Ayudando Latinos a Soñar (ALAS)** and the City of San Mateo on the inaugural **Farmworker Awareness Week** in San Mateo County. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/da/c2/dac234fa-0ada-4c3c-ab9c-95843168f30c/content/images/2026/10/20241109_215739.jpeg) ### **In Half Moon Bay, Alongside ALAS** Reese's commitment to comunidad deepened through the **Jean Donovan Fellowship**. He worked with ALAS in Half Moon Bay, supporting farmworker families through social services, food distributions, youth programming, and community outreach. He then brought other students into that work. Reese led Santa Clara University students through the **Harvesting Hope** immersion in partnership with ALAS. *“Students learn through listening, relationship-building, and accompaniment,” he says.* Today, as a student assistant at Santa Clara University's **Ignatian Center**, he continues supporting community-based immersions that connect students with social justice issues and encourage engagement that lasts beyond the classroom. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/da/c2/dac234fa-0ada-4c3c-ab9c-95843168f30c/content/images/2026/10/20261017_172226.jpeg) At SVL, this story is close to home. Reese came to us through our partners at ALAS, and our Emmy-nominated commercial, *Farmworkers: The Most Forgotten Community*, produced by The SVL Agency, was built on the same conviction Reese carries: the people who feed us deserve to be seen, heard, and included. ### **Engineering With Purpose** Reese is also opening doors for the next generation. Through the **Greene Scholars Program**, in partnership with Stanford University, he has facilitated STEM workshops that make engineering and technology more accessible, empowering students from underrepresented communities to explore what they can build. Engineers design the roads, water systems, and buildings communities depend on. Reese wants the people who live with those designs to help shape them. *“I want to help create a world where communities, especially those whose voices are often overlooked, are recognized, empowered, and included in shaping their futures,” he says.* ### **The Future Is Being Built Now** Reese plans to carry these values into his career as an engineer and advocate. He is proof that the next generation of Latino leadership isn't waiting for permission. It is listening, showing up, and building alongside comunidad. We are proud to welcome Reese Alvernaz as a **Collegiate Cultura Ambassador**. **He is listening.** --- **Stories like this don't tell themselves.** SVL has spent over a decade making the invisible visible, celebrating Latino excellence, naming hard truths, and calling our comunidad to action. Independent Latino journalism only survives when the community it serves decides it's worth protecting. There are two ways to stand with us: **Are you a Latino professional, entrepreneur, or leader ready to be celebrated?** Become a Cultura Ambassador, SVL's official community membership for Latino leaders who are ready to have their story told, their work amplified, and their excellence made visible. [Become a Cultura Ambassador →](https://www.svlatino.com/#/portal/signup/6a8db2d43e7c840008178b04/yearly) **Want to support our mission?** Become an Amigo de SVL. Your support keeps our journalism independent, our stories free, and our #CreoEnTi programs and community events alive. [Become an Amigo de SVL →](https://www.svlatino.com/#/portal/signup/6a8e00f723b28c0001855fa0/monthly) ### *Juntos Adelante. Because silence is complicity. And so is inaction.* #WeAreSVL | #JuntosAdelante | #CreoEnTi | #LatinoLeader | #SVLVoices | #CulturaAmbassador | #FarmworkerJustice