Spotlight Series: Delilah Marquez

Delilah Marquez, Title V grant project director, is committed to finding ways to maintain and expand programming at Palo Alto College's Student Health, Advocacy, Resource, and Engagement (S.H.A.R.E.) Center with the support of grant funding.

After garnering buzz for her work at the College, the Alliance of Hispanic Serving Institution Educators (AHSIE) invited her to serve in the position of council member for the national program. Marquez applied and was voted onto the council in spring 2018, where she is serving a three-year term through 2022.

"It was really a surprise to me," said Marquez. "I've worked most of my career in the grant field, so I'm no stranger to grant compliance, audits, budgets, and so on. When they asked if I would consider joining, I couldn't pass it up."

Marquez's position on the council allows her to stay up-to-date on information for AHSIE conferences, best practices, and opportunities to grow partnerships other colleges and universities — especially Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI), like Palo Alto College.

"It's really an affirmation that I am doing a good job," said Marquez. "I think affirmation is very important for a lot of us. We tend to not tell ourselves that we're doing a good job. Someone else may say it, but it's always a personal feeling of self-satisfaction."

Marquez said serving on the AHSIE council is a rewarding opportunity. As a nonprofit organization, AHSIE exists to support the work of the nation's HSIs as they seek to provide quality, relevant educational opportunities to large and growing numbers of underserved populations, particularly Hispanic students. The collaboration provides access to practitioners and educators in which Marquez gets to serve as a liaison in networking those efforts.

Work in higher education was new to Marquez when she started at Palo Alto College three years ago, but she was familiar with the landscape and culture because she is an alumna. As she adjusted to the higher education industry, she brought insights from her previous grant work, which has helped her identify new opportunities for the S.H.A.R.E. Center and fueled her personal passion of helping others.

"[Palo Alto College has] a very warm community and welcoming culture," said Marquez. "To see that the College is very open and accepting about wanting to provide supportive services and knowing the dollars the institution has to provide these services keeps me going."

Her work with AHSIE aligns with her work at the College, as the Title V grant Marquez manages has three main components, including advocacy, which is how she found herself working in the S.H.A.R.E. Center.

The S.H.A.R.E. Center provides advocacy resources such as career services, financial literacy, emergency grant assistance, service learning, mental health, community resources, and more. These services are free and readily available to students. The likeminded staff who work alongside Marquez in the Center aspire to help students be successful based on their individual needs.

"As an advocacy field professional, it's important to recognize that hardships come in all fashions," said Marquez. "Each student has their own personal story of adversity and that's why I'm grateful to be part of the S.H.A.R.E. team here at Palo Alto College."

To learn more about the S.H.A.R.E. Center and services offered, stop by Student Center, Room 101 or visit xgcr.net/pac/share.