Sheila Thornton, President/CEO

Sheila Thornton is the President/CEO for OneFuture Coachella Valley.  She works with key education and business leaders to implement the Coachella Valley Regional Plan for College and Career Success, a five-year strategic plan that lays out regional strategies designed to produce an educated workforce and assure Coachella Valley students are prepared for success in college, career and life.

Prior to her current role, Sheila was a health workforce and leadership development consultant providing project management and coalition building expertise to a variety of industry, education, and community organizations. She has assisted organizations with strategic planning, mission advancement, cross-sector partnerships, organizational structure, grant writing and management and program implementation.

Sheila led the development of the Healthcare Industry Council, the region's first ever coalition aligning economic development and education strategies to prepare a quality healthcare workforce for the future of the industry.  The Council has expanded opportunities for low income, disadvantaged students to succeed in Kindergarten-12th grade health career pathways programs, college health sciences programs and higher level health professions.  Sheila also works with a variety of Inland Empire organizations across the health workforce spectrum to expand and optimize health career pathways education and training programs and align these with industry and workforce needs.

Prior to launching her consulting practice in 2001, Sheila held the positions of Director of Community Services for a non-profit hospital and Analyst/Project Manager for an economic research and consulting firm.

She serves on the California Health Professions Consortium, the National Advisory Committee for Health Career Connection, and the national leadership team for the Ford Motor Company Fund Next Generation Initiative. Sheila obtained a B.S. degree in Applied Math from Loyola Marymount University.

Sheila Thornton, President/CEO
Tel: 
760-799-4137 e-mail: Sheila@OneFutureCV.org

Kim McNulty, Vice President of Regional Strategy

Kim McNulty is the Vice President of Regional Strategy for OneFuture Coachella Valley and has provided leadership since its inception as the Career Pathways Initiative in 2005. Through this collective impact effort, OneFuture CV and partners are working to raise the intellectual capital and workforce capacity of the region by aligning the community's education, workforce and economic development efforts.

Kim's professional experience includes 20 years in professional services and destination marketing management -- ten years of that as the as Film Commissioner for the desert resort communities. As Film Commissioner, she served on the Marketing Committee for the California Film Commission's Film Liaisons In California Statewide (FLICS) and co-founded the California On Location Awards (COLA) event.

Kim currently serves on the Leadership Council for the Ford Motor Company Fund's Next Generation Learning National Network, is Vice-Chair of the Riverside County Workforce Development Board's East Region Committee, Secretary of the Palm Springs Historical Society Board of Directors and a member of the Pastoral Council at St. Theresa Catholic Church. In addition, she helped pioneer the development of Xavier College Preparatory High School in Palm Desert, CA.  Xavier is the first lay-built, Jesuit-endorsed high school of its kind and one of seven Jesuit high schools in the California Province. McNulty currently serves on Xavier's Board of Regents and is the founding President of Xavier's Parent Guild.

Kim McNulty is a native of Palm Springs, California. She attended the University of San Diego and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English.

Kim McNulty, Vice President of Regional Strategy
Tel: 
760-413-5990 e-mail: Kim@OneFutureCV.org

Ernie Rios, Vice President of College Success

Ernie Rios serves as the Vice President of College Success for OneFuture Coachella Valley.  He is a graduate of Coachella Valley High School and College of the Desert.  He transferred to the University of California at Los Angeles where he studied history, political science and film.  After completing his undergraduate degree, he worked in the music video industry where he gained valuable management experience. 

Passionate about business, he returned to the Coachella Valley and earned his Master of Business Administration degree from the Richard J. Heckmann International Center for Entrepreneurial Management at the University of California at Riverside, Palm Desert Campus.  During graduate school, Ernie provided business consulting services to local start-ups, including assisting with the development of a video production program at Coachella Valley Unified School District. 

In 2008, he joined the Coachella Valley Economic Partnership and helped co-found the Pathways to Success Scholarship and Leadership program, which is now OneFuture's Scholarship and Student Support program. Since 2009, more than $15 million in scholarships have been awarded to more than 2,000 students and OneFuture's staff have helped Coachella Valley students access more than $50 million in state and federal financial aid. Ernie is the Chair of the Thermal Community Council and is grateful to work with local leaders to help develop education and business opportunities for the region.

Ernie Rios, Vice President of College Success
E-mail: Ernie@OneFutureCV.org

Jacqui Tricco, Director of Business and Finance

Jacqui Tricco is OneFuture's Director of Business and Finance, managing all business and financial operations for the organziation. Jacqui joined our team in 2012 as the Industry Council Coordinator, where she oversaw the structure and facilitation of three councils (Healthcare, Advanced Technology and Arts, Media & Entertainment). Prior to joining OneFuture, she spent ten years in sales and marketing in the financial banking and pharmaceutical sectors. Jacqui holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Communications and a Business Certificate with an emphasis in Business Law from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Jacqui Tricco, Director of Business and Finance
e-mailJacqui@OneFutureCV.org

Cristina Gregorio, Director of College & Career Success

Cristina is Director of College & Career Succes for OneFuture.  She is a first generation college student who, after attending Indio High School, went on to obtain a dual Bachelor's Degree in Spanish and Communication Studies from the University of San Diego (USD).  She is scheduled to complete her Master's Degree in English this summer.  After college, Cristina went on to work at USD where her role focused on the educational experience of first-generation college students. After working at USD for nine years, she returned to the desert and accepted a position with the University of California, Riverside where she assisted with outreach efforts.  Most recently, Cristina taught English as a Second Language at College of the Desert.  In addition to working in education, she has utilized her Spanish language skills to provide translation services to government, public, and private agencies for the past 11 years. In her personal time, she enjoys spending time with her two children and her husband, Dennis.

Cristina Gregorio, Director of College & Career Success
E-mail: Cristina@OneFutureCV.org

 

Paul Olson, Director of Development

Paul Olson joined the OneFuture Coachella Valley team as director of development in June 2019 and is responsible for fundraising to help students achieve success in their education and career goals through the work of OneFuture. Paul recently relocated to California from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, MN where he served as director of development for Schubert Club (one of the oldest music presenting organizations in the nation), VocalEssence and Greater Twin Cities United Way, as well as a human resources professional at the world headquarters of Cargill, Inc. Paul was vice-president of the Arts Partnership development and fundraising team consisting of the Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Minnesota Opera, Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, and Schubert Club, collaboratively raising money and presenting joint programming in St. Paul. Paul graduated from Waldorf University in Forest City, IA in music education and performance, with further music education and conducting studies at St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, MN.

 

Luis Rojas, Data Analyst

Luis Rojas currently serves as Data Analyst for OneFuture Coachella Valley.  After graduating Coachella Valley High School in 2010, he attended College of the Desert (COD) where he was active in the Extended Opportunity Programs and Service and COD Alumni Association Scholarship Club. After completing his Associates of Arts Degree at COD, Luis transferred to California State University, San Bernardino Palm Desert Campus where he received his bachelor’s degree in Psychology. He plans to earn a master’s degree in Counseling and Guidance or in Education from California State California State University, San Bernardino.  Luis’ goal is to become a counselor in a higher education institution.

Tel: (760) 625-0422 email: luis@onefuturecv.org

 

Ricardo Ramirez, Data Analyst

Ricardo Ramirez serves as a Data Analyst for OneFuture Coachella Valley. He was born in Michoacán, Mexico and migrated to the United States at a young age where he was raised in the Coachella Valley. Ricardo graduated from Desert Mirage High School (DMHS) in June 2015 where he earned a 4.0. G.P.A. During his high school years, he was an active member for different clubs and sports. Four years later Ricardo became a first generation California State University of San Bernardino Alumni (class of 2019) where he obtained his Bachelor Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in Management and Finance. During his academic career in college, Ricardo was a Student Ambassador at CSUSB Palm Desert Campus. He was active in a number of campus clubs and helped found DREAMers at PDC. Ricardo has always been passionate about giving back to his community. For three years, Ricardo has been a volunteer at SCORE, which is non-profit that offers assistance to small businesses through mentoring and workshops. His next step in life is to continue with his academic career and obtain a Master’s in Business Administration. Eventually, Ricardo plans to become a business and financial consultant.
 

Fatima Salcido, Student Support Specialist

Fatima serves as Student Support Specialist for OneFuture Coachella Valley’s (OFCV) team. She is a proud alumni and recipient of the OFCV Scholarship, which she received during the four years of her undergraduate career.

She attended College of the Desert (COD) where she obtained her Associate of Arts Degree in Communication Studies. During her time at COD she became an active member of both the Alas con Futuro Club and the College of the Desert Alumni Association Scholarship Club where she served as President. In addition, she interned with OFCV where she coordinated the Leadership Team and assisted with the planning of the annual student leadership conference.

Fatima then transferred to Cal State University, Fullerton (CSUF) where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Human Communication Studies and a minor on Women and Gender Studies. During her two years at CSUF, she became part of the California Dream Network (CDN) steering committee where she worked along students from all over California to mobilize and empower young people addressing issues in the undocumented community. With the help of fellow students, she helped found the student led organization Diversity Resilience Education Access Movement Co-Operation (D.R.E.A.M. Co-Op) to support undocumented students. She served as vice-president for the organization.

Upon completing her undergraduate studies, Fatima spent the following two years’ in Mexico where she worked for Veritiv as a sales support coordinator. This experience allowed her to grow her experience in sales, as well as to provide logistics and packaging products to international corporations such as Amazon and Sanmina. She is happy to be back in the Coachella Valley and be a part of the OFCV team.  She looks forward to continuing to learn and gain experience working with college students in higher education.  Her goals are to attend graduate school to complete a Master’s Degree in  in Higher Education.

Tel: (760) 625-0461 email: fatima@onefuturecv.org