Jessica Rentto is the associate vice president of Administration. She is originally from New Jersey but moved to San Diego after graduating from college and never left. At SDSU, Rentto oversees the Center for Human Resources (HR), the Center for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (CPHD), Environmental Health and Safety (EHS), and University Police and Risk Management. Her favorite aspect of her role is sitting on the Associated Students (A.S.) Board of Directors as the BFA designee because working directly with our students serves as a great reminder of how our divisions’ work supports student success. Rentto believes DEI makes our institution stronger and results in a more engaged and productive workforce and a great environment to foster and support student success.

Dr. Eric Hansen is the associate vice president of Business Operations. Throughout Hansen's academic and professional career, he has been curious about cultivating high-performance organizations, including the support of diverse and inclusive work environments. Having moved many times as a child, Hansen experienced the challenges and opportunities encountered when someone is new and feels like an outsider. He also came to appreciate the value in people of different backgrounds, identities, and stations in life. His professional and personal experiences motivated him to engage in many DEI planning and implementation efforts throughout the years. Hansen has learned the importance of recognizing our privileges and honoring and valuing our differences while working to acknowledge and celebrate our common humanity.

Cynthia M. Cervantes is the executive director for the Office of Housing Administration (OHA). Along with her team, Cervantes is committed to providing enriching living and learning environments that support student success, both academically and personally. She is originally from San Lorenzo, California, is an SDSU alumna, and is currently pursuing her doctoral degree in educational leadership at Fresno State University. As a first-generation Latinx woman, Cervantes understands the challenges women of color face in the workplace and is excited to contribute to BFA's DEI efforts to integrate broader perspectives and foster a culture of continuous growth and learning.

Johnny Eaddy is the director of Logistical Services and a native San Diegan. He oversees the Copier Program, Copy Center, Electronic Recycling, Mail, Shipping and Receiving Services, Material Management, Moving Services, and Reprographic Services within Logistical Services. Eaddy brings a unique perspective to the DEI Steering Committee, considering his career at SDSU began as a custodian on the night shift. He has actively participated in many programs and served on many committees throughout his three-plus decades of employment with SDSU, and he is always seeking ways to assist and support the underserved.

Thom Harpole is the director for Human Resources (HR). He is a native Southern Californian and a two-time alumnus of California State University (CSU), earning a bachelor’s degree from Cal State Fullerton and a master’s degree from SDSU. Harpole is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community, a father of two, and a devoted partner. In his position, Harpole provides strategic human resources support and leads a team of top-notch professionals providing core human resources services to the campus community. For Harpole, it is an honor to be in a support role at SDSU, a university where students, faculty, and staff are able to provide transformative opportunities and are a critical part of creating a better community and a better world. Harpole sleeps well at night with the knowledge that the work we do at SDSU makes a difference.

Casie Martinez is the assistant director of employment services for Human Resources (HR). In her role, Martinez oversees the talent acquisition and classification, and compensation teams. She is a San Diego native who grew up in Chula Vista and earned her bachelor's degree from SDSU. As an alumna, Martinez serves as a mentor and speaker at the SDSU chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) student events. Martinez is grateful to have the opportunity to work at SDSU and enjoys being a small part of candidates achieving their career goals. She believes prioritizing DEI initiatives within BFA is extremely important, especially for the HR team, as the impact of these initiatives will be the collective experiences of everyone that applies or works for the university.

Gail Mendez is the director of the Center for Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (CPHD) and Title IX coordinator. Mendez earned her Juris Doctorate degree from St. John’s University in New York City. Her legal career focused on working for nonprofit organizations dedicated to representing marginalized populations. Mendez officially moved to higher education in 2016 but has long admired SDSU’s commitment to fostering diversity, equity, and inclusion on campus. It is her strong desire that CPHD will be an integral contributor to SDSU’s mission to provide an environment where all members of the campus community can work, learn, and live in an atmosphere free from all forms of bias, harassment, and discrimination.

T'Ante Sims is the manager of Student Account Services (SAS). In his role, he is responsible for overseeing the collection of tuition and other student fees. Sims works with students and parents to finance student education and helps give students a path to fulfill their dream of earning a degree from SDSU. For Sims, being part of the BFA DEI Steering Committee for the past three years has allowed him to expand his knowledge and awareness of the importance of creating a work environment that creates a culture of belonging and inclusiveness across all populations.

Yesenia Acosta is a senior budget analyst for Budget & Finance. Acosta grew up in Tijuana, Mexico, and returned to California as a teenager. While learning English, she found reading and writing in a foreign language was easier than speaking but eventually adjusted well. In her position, Acosta appreciates being able to share the high-level perspective of the university's budget and operations. She believes prioritizing DEI within BFA is important for personal and professional growth because we learn more from sharing our different perspectives.

Deborah is a San Diego native. Up to this point in her life, she has not been able to see herself calling any other place home. The weather here is amazing and there is a diverse community with the border and military community influences and this is where the majority of her immediate family roots have been. Her background is in Business Management, Computer Information systems. Her previous career was in the telecommunications industry in data analytics. She enjoys working with data and learning software. Her passion is learning new things, problem-solving, figuring out new ways of looking at things and working with and understanding and transforming, and applying data.

In her current position, she works as a data analyst in the card office. She creates and runs various reports using tools such as SQL, Power BI, SQL. She likes data, numbers, the ability to transform what seems like meaningless numbers into meaningful insights, seeing its impact, and its ability to become actionable to really make a difference. It can be powerful.

DEI is important to her because it allows us to fully tap into and appreciate the wide spectrum of what so many different humans offer. With varied backgrounds and perspectives, as individuals we can offer each other the gift of creating a complete insightful picture of the experience, capturing it from different angles and lenses with all of its complexities. If we limit ourselves by limiting our diversity, we limit our own potential.