Health Care Advocate Martha Valladarez

I Always Think About How Lucky I Am

Martha Valladarez is an in-home supportive services provider. She was one of the first female letter carriers and female shop stewards in Fresno, California. Her youngest daughter has Down Syndrome, which led her to join the care providers’ union, SEIU Local 2015, for which she is currently the regional vice president. Before speaking on a panel at a Zócalo event, presented in partnership with The James Irvine Foundation—“What Is a Good Job Now? In Health Care?”—she chatted in the green room about feeling lucky, talking to children with disabilities, and …

July 21, 2023

KVPR News Director Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado

I Saved the Candles From My 18th Birthday

July 21, 2023

Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado is the news director for KVPR Valley Public Radio. He grew up in the San Joaquin Valley he now covers, and previously reported the news for the Fresno …

Public Health Professor Helda Pinzón-Perez

Learn to Fail, and Be Thankful When You Have Success

July 21, 2023

Helda Pinzón-Perez is a public health professor at California State University, Fresno. Her areas of research include health issues of vulnerable populations and in rural areas. Before joining the panel …

Health Care Workforce Researcher Janette Dill

I’m Always Happiest Outside

July 21, 2023

Janette Dill is an associate professor in the Health Policy & Management Division in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota, and the deputy director of the …

Four panelists sitting in front of a blue backdrop that has the logos of Zócalo Public Square and The James Irvine Foundation on it. The panelists are, from left to right: Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado, Janette Dill, Helda Pinzón-Perez, and Martha Valladarez.

Better Health Care Starts with Better Health Care Jobs

The Industry Needs Higher Wages, More Paid Leave, and Pathways to Advancement

by Joe Mathews | July 14, 2023

The most important healthcare workers in this country—entry-level workers who do the caregiving and provide preventive services—are often paid poverty-level wages and provided insufficient benefits and supports, said panelists at …

Who Cares for Caregivers’ Families While They’re Caring for Us?

A Mass Exodus Looms if the Profession Can’t Offer Workers the Childcare, Wages, and Leave Programs They Need to Stay

by Vicki Shabo | July 13, 2023

In March 2020, when Congress enacted the country’s first-ever federal paid sick time and child care leave policy, it carved millions of people out of the law’s guarantees, …

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