Research Assistant
- B.A. in Sociology
- M.A. in Nonprofit Leadership and Management
Bryan Cardenas (they/them/elle) is a double alumnus of the University of San Diego, having first received their B.A. in Sociology with a concentration in Social Justice and minor in Ethnic Studies in 2019 and returned to receive their M.A. in Nonprofit Leadership and Management in 2024. As the Research Assistant for the Nonprofit Institute, Bryan’s critical thinking skills support the organization’s work in facilitating impact-goal alignment between donors and their grantees, survey creation, and data analysis; whereas Bryan’s personable and outgoing demeanor enhances their ability to steward strong, meaningful relationships across the nonprofit sector. Due to Bryan’s skills and interests, they most identify with the Bratz doll character of Yasmin who embraces her femininity, advocates for the environment and thrives from social interaction despite being a bit shy.
Grounded in their lived experience of environmental racism in their hometown of Oakland, CA, Bryan’s work focuses on advocating for the health of wildlife, people, and the planet. Their work in intersectional environmentalism began as a face-to-face fundraiser for a Greenpeace conservation campaign for the Monarch butterfly, an endangered species who, much like Bryan - the child of Mexican, immigrant parents - also calls Michoacan, Mexico, home. Now having lived in San Diego for nearly 10 years, Bryan has developed a deep love and connection to the historic barrios of the city who both reflect their rich cultural identity and similarly deal with environmental racism negatively impacting their health outcomes. Furthermore, knowing the negative impacts of a physical border and worsening climate change on the health outcomes of our binational bioregion’s communities, Bryan has honed in on their story-telling abilities to advocate for their underrepresented identities while also using their analytical skills to make eco-communication easier to comprehend. As a testament to their dedication to the environmental-nonprofit sector, Bryan - in collaboration with the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative - contributed their skills in qualitative data analysis to support the Nat and SANDAG in creating the following report: “San Diego Collaboration for Conservation: Sustaining the Region's Legacy of Biodiversity Conservation” (2024). Not only did this accomplishment fulfill their dream of being published and cited, but also solidified their professional trajectory aimed at conserving and restoring the health of habitats, wildlife and people on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border and beyond.