Philip Garrison | Founder
Philip Garrison founded APOYO in 1995. Minerva López-Caples and Stella Moreno were early sources of patience and good advice. Garrison, born in Springfield, MO, is the grandson of an Idaho homesteader and an Irish immigrant. Before retirement, he taught literature and writing courses at CWU, as well as at universities in Mexico and Central America. He is the author of five essay collections about life along the U.S.-Mexican border.
Board Members
Leo Acevedo | Donations Manager
Leonel Acevedo is APOYO’s Donations Manager. Born in Mexico City, the youngest of eight children, he came to the US when he was 19. He worked in the fields for five years, then became a truck driver and provided pruning and tree-cutting services. He has worked with APOYO since 1995. He loves working for APOYO because it enables him to serve the Latinx community, and he’s excited about the organization’s growth and transformation. He enjoys reading, working outdoors, and spending time with his family.
Michelle Carrillo | Director of Governmental Relations
Michelle Carrillo was born in Olympia, Washington. She is a first-generation college student, double majoring in Law and Justice and Political Science. She serves as the Director of Governmental Affairs under the ASCWU student government. Last year, she was the CWU’s student lobbyist. She hopes to become an attorney or go into policy writing to support her community. Her engagement with APOYO has enhanced her understanding of the community and nurtured a sense of family that she values. When she is not working, you can find her shopping for Lego sets or Hello Kitty items. She loves super spicy food. Additionally, she enjoys spending time with her boyfriend, who she met at APOYO’s Community Cup last year, and her friends.
Jesus Erasto-Garcia | Treasurer
Jesus Erasto-Garcia began his work with APOYO in the fall of 2021. While studying at Central Washington University, he served as APOYO’s administrative assistant and Amigos Atléticos program director. After graduating from CWU, he returned to Western WA to attend graduate school at the University of Washington. He obtained his B.A. in Spanish with a minor in Teaching English as a Second Language/Bilingual Education. He is now pursuing his Master’s in Teaching to teach Spanish at the Junior High/High school level. He enjoys running, cycling, cooking, traveling, and watching anime when he’s not busy with graduate school.
Mercy Gipson
Mercy Gipson was born on the Northernmost island of the Philipines, Luzon. She is the seventh of 11 children. Her father was a farmer and was fortunate to have many children to help with the farm. Mercy attended school through the middle of her second year of high school. Her formal education was interrupted by the imposition of martial law by the Marcos regime. This made it impossible for her to finish her studies. Instead, she helped her aunts and uncles work their farms. As a teenager, she worked in markets, buying and selling produce from farms, and in a restaurant in San Jose as a cook. At the age of seventeen, she married and had three daughters before separating from her abusive husband. Before going to Manila, she could find work as a coiffeur and a seamstress in a garment factory. She managed and cooked for a large boarding house in Manila that accommodated 62 post-graduate students around the University of Santo Tomas. A good friend helped her get a job working as a nanny in Saudi Arabia. She had the privilege of traveling with the Saudi family in Europe each autumn. She came to the United States and married. Her second husband had an electrical engineering degree from the University of Washington, had a construction business, and worked as a real estate broker. They had two daughters together. One is a University of Washington graduate, and the other joined the Navy and served for nine years. After eight years together, Mercy got bored and landed a job at the UW as a cafeteria manager. With her tuition waiver, she got her GED. She then became a certified nursing assistant. Her husband died from cancer. She began a third chapter of her life with her third husband. They met at UW, where they worked. They retired to Ellensburg and began volunteering at APOYO. In addition, Mercy loves gardening, cooking, sewing, and spending time with family. She’s grateful to have everyone at APOYO as part of her family.
Bernadette Jungblut | CWU Faculty Liaison
Bernadette Jungblut is a Professor of Political Science at Central Washington University. She has worked in higher education for more than 20 years in a variety of positions. For her, the most important and enjoyable work has been developing and implementing programs for first-in-the-family in college, lower-income students, and students of color – and working with programs that support traditionally underserved student populations such as TRiO Student Support Services and the Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Scholars Program. She earned her Master of Arts and Ph.D. in Political Science from Rice University in Houston, Texas, and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Binghamton University in New York. Before pursuing her doctoral degree, Bernadette served as an aide in the New York State Attorney General’s Office in Binghamton, coordinating the Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau. She has also worked in the private sector, researching and co-authoring monographs on the political systems, domestic political and economic conditions, and foreign relations of various states. As the first person in her family to go to college, her current research focuses on higher education policy-making and strategies for addressing the many challenges colleges and universities face in serving the needs of students, faculty, staff, and surrounding communities. In her free time, she enjoys running, hiking, reading, cooking (or trying to cook) new dishes, and spending time with her husband and three cats.
Ivan Miron | CWU Student Liaison
Ivan was born in Texcoco, Mexico, and grew up in Othello, Washington. He is a Biology Major at Central Washington University. During the fall quarter of 2023, Ivan volunteered at APOYO through the APOYO Community Cup.
Through this first involvement at the APOYO Community Cup, Ivan met friends and found his community at Central Washington University.
Rex Wirth | Food Services Director
Rex grew up in Ogden, Utah, the eldest of nine siblings. He retired in 2019 after working for 36 years as a professor of political science at CWU and, before that, at Lambuth College. Service as an LDS missionary in Belgium and France and then as a Marine in the Vietnam War were also formative experiences.
Staff Members
Paola Anguiano Telles | Office Assistant
Paola was raised in Tieton, Washington, and is a first-generation student at CWU majoring in Biomedical Sciences. In her spare time, she enjoys nature walks, road trips, baking, and being with family and friends. Paola enjoys helping others and giving back to her community. APOYO provides a space for her to feel like she can give back to the Hispanic community.
David Avalos-Martinez | Health and Wellness Director
David is currently employed as a Clinical Exercise Physiologist at Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles. He spends most of his time helping individuals with cardiovascular disease (CVD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and other chronic conditions improve their health outcomes through exercise and tangible lifestyle changes. In his free time, David enjoys running, playing pick-up soccer, and is a passionate supporter of the Mexican soccer club Cruz Azul. He is deeply committed to improving the health and quality of life of those he serves.
Carmen Barajas | Food Acquisition and Distribution Director
Carmen Barajas was born in Tamazula in Jalisco, Mexico, and grew up in Contla, Jalisco. She has lived in Ellensburg since 1995. When she first came to Washington, she worked in agriculture in the orchards. She then dedicated herself full-time to her children and family and worked for the Nordstrom family for many years. There, she acquired an interest in landscaping. She has her own business now, including landscaping and housekeeping services. In her spare time, she likes to be with her family and do outdoor activities such as four-wheeling and hiking. She loves coordinating APOYO’s food delivery service because it offers her the opportunity to interact with and serve the community – and drive the APOYO van!
Cristian Caballero | Food Services Assistant
Cristian was born and raised in Central Washington and is a student at CWU pursuing a career in music and accounting. He spends most of his day working on homework, practicing his saxophone, or at APOYO. In his free time, Cristian enjoys dirt biking, video games, and spending time with friends and family. What Cristian loves most about APOYO is giving back to the community he grew up in and meeting new people.
Gerardo Castillo | Food Services Assistant
Gerardo was born and raised in California, specifically the Bay Area. He is pursuing a bachelor’s in Apparel Textiles and Merchandising with a double minor in apparel design and digital marketing at CWU. He also serves as the Director of Student Life and Facilities under the ASCWU student government. You can find him working on his business or training in mixed martial arts when not in his office. What he loves about his recent employment at APOYO is the ability to practice selflessness while building community relationships.
Alondra Gomez Licea | Office Manager
Alondra is from a small town in the lower Yakima Valley. She is a first-generation Mexican Central Washington University student, double majoring in Public Health and Spanish translation services. Growing up, she was always translating for her parents, which pushed her to want to do it as a career. She strives to give back to the community that she grew up in by working as a Medical Interpreter in the future. She enjoys spending quality time with friends and family in her free time.
Joseph Gabriel Pangan Burke | Youth Empowerment Director
Raised in south Everett, Washington, Jo (he/she/they) obtained their B.S. Public Policy and B.A. Political Science with minors in Economics and Physics from Central Washington University in 2024. Jo brings experience in governmental relations and non-profit management in higher education and public transportation. Jo’s portfolio includes directing events and conferences engaging hundreds of higher education students, leading teams of statewide officials, staff, partners, and researchers, and helping secure more funding for student basic needs and the Washington College Grant.
Mary Cruz Ramirez Pulido | Warehouse Manager
Mary Cruz was born and raised in Jalisco, Mexico. She moved to the United States in 2016. She enjoys meeting new people, places, and cultures. Her favorite pastime activities include going on walks, listening to music, and dancing! She is entirely thankful for APOYO. Since hearing of APOYO, she’s known that the organization provides outreach to the community. Joining the team has allowed her to see all the hard work it takes from everyone to contribute to the organization’s purpose. For her, being part of APOYO is more than a job. It allows her to continue meeting our community and help out more daily. “¡Gracias APOYO!”
Noel Trujillo | Amigos Atléticos Coordinator
Noel is a senior at CWU majoring in Physical Education and School Health and minoring in teaching English as a Second Language. He enjoys exercising, watching soccer, listening to music, spending time with his friends and family, and eating. In the past, Noel worked with APOYO while on the MEChA board, collaborating on events and student outreach. He looks forward to working more closely with the community that APOYO serves and improving his teaching abilities.
Stefanie Wickstrom | Executive Director
Stefanie Wickstrom has worked with APOYO since 2001 and has served as APOYO’s Executive Director since 2020. She lived in Tucson growing up and then studied and taught at the University of Arizona and Pima Community College. Living in the borderlands and a South Tucson neighborhood and studying Mexican and Indigenous revolutionaries and activists shaped her awareness of justice. In Tucson and Eugene, Oregon, in the 1990s, she worked with nonprofits dedicated to protecting human and civil rights of Central American refugees and im/migrants from elsewhere in Latin America. She has had opportunities to live and study in Mexico, Chile, Panama, and Spain. She has a Ph.D. in political science from the University of Oregon and offers classes from time to time at CWU. Cooking, gardening, and watching her children grow up keep her sane.
