Personal Biography:

As a life-long resident of Napa County, Felix Bedolla is familiar with local organizations and resources and has worked on behalf of the Napa County community for many years. His father came to the United States under the Bracero Program that recruited Mexican agricultural workers to work in the fields and he continued as a migrant farmworker for many years, eventually settling the family of 8 children in the town of Yountville.

Working alongside his father, mother, and brothers and sisters in the vineyards of Napa Valley, Felix gained an appreciation for the hard work, struggles, and barriers facing the campesino farmworkers. After attending local schools and graduating from the University of California at Davis with a Bachelor’s Degree in English Literature/Creative Writing, Felix embarked on a career working in the non-profit sector. He has extensive fund development and grant writing experience and has worked as a grant writing trainer with local non-profit organizations as well as the Tibetan Government-in-Exile in Dharamsala, India. In his current position, Mr. Bedolla is the Program Director of Nuestra Esperanza, a Latino Multi-Service Center offering Drug and Alcohol and Mental Health Counseling and Treatment Services, Parent Support Groups, Latino Youth Mentoring Programs, and Gang Violence Suppression programs as well. He served as the Program Coordinator of the CLARO (Challenging Latinos to Access Resources and Opportunities) Mentoring Program, a program designed to help Latino boys recognize their culture and heritage, avoid negative behaviors and expand the vision for their lives.

Felix has worked more than 14 years in non-profit management and program development having served as Executive Director of the Napa County Arts Council, Department Chair of the Community Interest Program of the Napa Valley Adult School and he has served as a board member on a variety of non-profit organizations including the California Alliance of Local Arts Agencies and NapaNet, a non-profit Internet Service Provider dedicated to bringing internet connectivity to Napa County schools. In addition to working at Nuestra Esperanza, he is currently on the board of directors of the If Given A Chance Foundation and also works as the Lead Trainer in partnership with Leadership Napa Valley for a Community Building Initiative of Napa Valley Community Housing to help Latino residents of low-income housing projects develop their leadership capabilities.

Goals:

My personal goals for the Fellowship are to expand my network of contacts (beyond the Napa Valley and to interact with like-minded professionals working in the social services/non-profit field as well as to increase my personal knowledge of the role technology can play in community organizing, economic development, social justice, and increasing access to resources. Professionally speaking, I hope to help bridge the gap between technology “haves” and “have-nots” in the Napa Valley area. I am particularly aware that the Latino community of Napa county is being left behind as the wave of technological advancement continues to move further and further away from their day to day lives.