Advisory Committee
Youth Development Director, The Watershed Research and Training Center
Onica Mello
Program Director, North State Together
Rosemary Mitchell
Program Director, North Star Regional Technical Assistance Center for Community Schools
Cindy Dixon
School Counselor, Southern Trinity Unified School District
Jesse Ferguson
Program Director, Trinity County Health and Human Services
Fabio Robles
Superintendent, Trinity County Office of Education
Carrian Foster
Regional Supervisor, Business Services, SMART Center
Carissa Rosensteel
Program Director/Instructor of Medical Assisting, Shasta College
Onica Mello serves as a Program Director at North State Together, a department of Shasta College. She supervises the implementation of the K-16 Educational Collaborative Grant in support of cradle-to-career initiatives within ten counties in far Northern California. She also coordinates the NatureBridge in Yosemite Program, funded by The McConnell Foundation, which serves 80+ high school sophomores and juniors from the North State each year. Her work emphasizes careful project management, creative problem solving, and regional networking with the aim of removing barriers and increasing career readiness for all in the North State.
Throughout her career in higher education, Onica has excelled in leadership roles focused on creating clear pathways for student access to assistance programs and counseling support. She is passionate about providing equitable educational offerings to all students — a goal which goes beyond the classroom and addresses unique personal challenges and varying local needs. Onica holds a Bachelor of History degree from the University of Oregon and an MBA with a specialization in Project Management from Chico State University.
NatureBridge in Yosemite NST webpage link:
Rosemary Mitchell, MSW, Ed.D. is a practitioner and scholar of radical place leadership, with a focus on community schools, rural education, spatial equity, systems change, and liberatory leadership practices. Raised in Trinity County and a proud graduate of Trinity High School (Go Wolves!), she has long been driven by a commitment to expanding opportunities for young people in rural communities like the one where she grew up. Her career spans more than a decade across K–12 schools, community colleges, and nonprofits, with a consistent focus on place-based systems change. Currently, she directs one of California’s eight Regional Technical Assistance Centers for Community Schools, supporting hundreds of schools across thirteen counties (including Trinity!) in advancing whole-child, partnership-centered approaches to school transformation. Deeply rooted in community, her practice and scholarship are rooted in collaborative methods that bring together educators, families, and local partners to co-create more equitable futures for young people.