Yesenia Garcia-Fortuna is a mission-driven executive dedicated to expanding opportunity and economic mobility for young people navigating systemic barriers. A first-generation college graduate, she leads with a deep belief in the transformative power of access, mentorship, and community.

Over the past 18 years, Yesenia has shaped and scaled organizations focused on college access and persistence. As a founding team member at Matriculate, she built operational strategy and infrastructure that enabled national growth and contributed to statistically significant outcomes for first-generation, rural, and low- and moderate-income students. Her work has helped thousands of high-achieving students from historically underserved communities access and enroll in top colleges.

Yesenia’s leadership is grounded in a holistic, intersectional lens that integrates academic success with psychological well-being, social capital, and long-term financial stability. She is known for pairing bold vision with disciplined execution; strengthening program quality, building high-performing teams, and guiding organizations through complexity and change.

She believes the future of education and youth development depends on leaders who can bridge lived experience with systems-level transformation.