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As a first generation Mexican-American, Joshua Trinidad says he has a duty to uphold.
“I want to provide folks with not only the knowledge to work with diverse populations, but to provide minorities the opportunity to advance,” Trinidad says.
Trinidad is YAI’s Diversity & Inclusion Officer, a newly appointed position at Headquarters. The Denver native started a week ago and brings with him 20 years of experience working in education as a professor of Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Colorado and Colorado State University in Fort Collins. He also has served as Principal in the Denver Public School system.
He specifically became interested in the Diversity & Inclusion field after hearing about his grandparents’ struggles when they immigrated to the U.S. from Mexico and seeing his parents denied opportunities here because of the color of their skin and the language they speak.
“Since we can’t change the color of our skin, I don’t have the privilege to not be a minority. I live it every day,” he says. “But I am hoping to leave an imprint here where people are starting to challenge their own understanding of what they think is best.”
Trinidad’s goal is to provide those at YAI a voice, and to give them a pathway to change by showing them that they matter. “Right now I have to figure out where those discrepancies are – where do people feel like they can’t voice what they feel or how they want things to change – and to be their megaphone.”
This is a task he believes is especially crucial while serving people with disabilities.
“Disability is one of those things that exists in all cultures and it intersects with every race and every gender. I think the work we have to do here is unique because it is something that no one has the privilege of escaping,” he says. “It’s something that everyone confronts and hopefully embraces.”