Originally from Guadalajara, Mexico, César Hernandez immigrated with this family to the United States as a child and was raised in Oxnard, California. During his teens and as a child of union members, César was involved in local electoral campaigns, union drives and other efforts to improve his local community. He graduated from the University of California Santa Cruz with a degree in molecular biology.
César is a founding staff member of City Corps of Oxnard, a leadership program that provides job training and life skills to low income and young people of color. He then worked with the New Orleans Youth Action Corps, an AmeriCorps Inc. program involved in community and neighborhood revitalization efforts in the Greater New Orleans area. César returned to California where he worked with organizations such as El Concilio del Condado de Ventura and California Rural Legal Assistance (CRLA) as director of the Central Coast Environmental Health Project (CCEHP).
César has worked extensively on policy issues at the local, state and national level, such as U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Worker Protection Standards, and filed the first ever environmental justice complaint with the U.S. EPA alleging disparate impact on Latine youth from pesticide exposures near their schools.
César volunteered with the Ventura County Living Wage Coalition, leading him to become a founding staff member of the Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy (CAUSE). He later became the lead organizer for the Central Coast Organizing Project (CCOP).
César worked in the private sector for the largest fresh berry grower in the world, Reiter Affiliated Companies (RAC). During his time at RAC, César led the organizational labor strategy efforts to improve earning and working conditions for more 20,000 harvesters in the U.S. He was selected as a fellow with the California Agricultural Leadership Foundation, the premier leadership development program in the U.S. for leaders in the agricultural industry.
César joined Community Change in Washington D.C. as a senior organizer for the organization’s economic justice strategy, playing a lead role working with dozens of field partners across the country on local, statewide and national campaigns and actions focused on childcare, housing justice and health equity.
Most recently, César resided back in Oxnard, providing private consulting services for clients such as Ventura County Office of Education and Driscoll’s. He has been a board or advisory committee member to organizations such as McCune Foundation (Santa Barbara), Communities for a New California (Fresno), Center for Community Advocacy (Salinas), Cabrillo Economic Development Corporation (Ventura), Housing Trust Ventura County and Housing Land Trust Ventura County, Teatro de Las Americas (Oxnard) and Parent Voices California (San Francisco).
