Equity, Race & Social Justice Task Force Liaison 

Virginia Madrid-Salazar provides leadership to the Central Valley Higher Education Consortium as the Equity Taskforce Liaison where she leads a team of equity leaders from CVHEC member colleges. The Equity Taskforce was convened in 2020 and is transitioning into a Phase II of the work it set out to accomplish. Phase I allowed for research, specifically an Equity Regional Scan.

When not serving as the Equity Taskforce Liaison, Virginia dedicates her time as a Dependency Law Parent’s Attorney where is appointed to an indigent parent once the Department of Social Services has determined a risk to the child exists and the court agrees court oversight is necessary. She has been a member of the California Bar since 2021.

Prior to her work as an attorney, Virginia served as CVHEC’s Strategies Lead through 2021 where she provided oversight of regional outreach efforts, oversight and facilitation of various taskforce efforts, and led the development of the CVHEC Regional Data Dashboard. Additionally, she served as the primary grant and report writer for the Consortium.

Prior to her work at CVHEC, she enjoyed a nearly 20 year career in communications where she served as reporter, managing editor of community newspapers, then as a public information campaign manager reaching multicultural audiences. She has received recognition for her reporting from the National Hispanic Publishers Association and California Newspaper Publishers Association. She has managed Addy award winning multi-lingual public information campaigns on a variety of issues important to public entities and nonprofits. Highlights include managing statewide and regional public information campaigns for such clients as the California Public Utilities Commission, Fresno County Public Health Department and The Bakersfield Californian. Additionally, as a corporate communications leader she led efforts to secure over $300 million in contracts for energy efficiency projects.

After a seventeen-year career in communications, she obtained a juris doctorate degree. While pursuing her degree she gained scholarly research experience as a published writer and provided leadership as Editor-in-Chief of the San Joaquin Agricultural Law Review, Volume 25.

She also serves on the Board of the Fresno County Office of Education Foundation, is a member of the California Dependency Attorneys for Parents, California Domestic Violence Child/Welfare Committee, and Foster Youth Literacy Improvement Pilot Committee for Fresno Unified School District.

Virginia is a product of Central Valley higher education institutions. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations and a minor in Spanish from California State University, Fresno. She received her Juris Doctorate from San Joaquin College of Law. She and her husband of 29 years, Mark Salazar, enjoy four children and a beautiful grandaughter. Born in the bay area, Virginia is now proud to call Fresno home.