Mario Ernesto Lopez is a lawyer, a community advocate at the Marin Community Foundation, and—along with his sister—the first in his family to graduate from college.
At College of Marin, Mario got involved. He served as student trustee on the College Board of Trustees. He transferred to UC Davis, earned his degree in political science, interned for Senator Feinstein in Washington and for President Obama at the White House. He went on to law school and a career in financial services before returning home to Marin to work in philanthropy.
Today Mario advocates for the communities most people in Marin don’t see—the Canal District, the most densely populated neighborhood from here to the Oregon border, and West Marin, with the largest pocket of residents facing the greatest need. “People don’t realize how much need there is in our community,” he says. When people think of Marin County, they think of wealth. They don’t think about the people who take care of all of us: the nurses, the firefighters, the grocery workers, the caregivers. College of Marin trains them. And the Foundation makes sure they can finish.
