Meet Beti Tapia, Student Services Manager 

Raised just outside Bakersfield in the small agricultural town of Wasco, Beti Tapia was familiar with Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers as a child. The mother of two adult children now works as FIELD’s Student Services Manager, overseeing the nonprofit’s education services, such as the adult high school diploma and ESL programs. 

Beti spoke with us about growing up in a union household, working with FIELD President and CEO David Villarino-Gonzalez and how good fortune brought her back into the FIELD fold. 

When did you join FIELD? 

I think it was 1998. I was under the United Farm Workers with Mr. Villarino. He was the Executive Director of the collective bargaining department, and I was his executive assistant. One day, he came to me and said, “The board has asked me to take over FIELD.” Both he and I were moved over to FIELD. Basically, we were a staff of two. Then I left in 2001, and I came back in 2017. 

He gave a presentation at my son’s elementary class. The teacher told me, “Hey, I’m having a guest speaker. It’s one of Cesar Chavez’s sons-in-laws. Would you like to come?’ And I’m like, “Oh, really, which one because I know them all?” She said, “David Villarino.” I’m like, “No way, that was my boss.” So, I went to the presentation. He saw me; he met my son. I had just left a real estate job. He said,” Do you want to come work for me again?” So, I came back in June of ‘17. 

It’s wild what the universe does sometimes. It connected you with your old boss and here you are now. 

When I came back, everything we were planning 17 years ago or 18 years ago when I left, he had it all in motion. 

My role now is the Student Services Manager. I oversee the outreach and enrollment part of our high school program, our ESL program, and we also take care of the career technical education courses. 

How many students do you work with at any given time? 

Our EPIC program, this school year, we’ve enrolled anywhere between 1,200 to 1,300. That’s not counting our ESL students or career technical education students. 

‘What kind of programming do you do? 

EPIC is our high school program for those over the age of 18 who want to get their high school diploma. It’s open to anyone. I know that our name says Farmworkers Institute, but it’s not just for farmworkers; it’s for anyone who wants to get their diploma and continue their education. 

Then we have our English as a Second Language classes. Every five to six weeks, we start a new session. Then, we have our career technical education courses.

What do you like about the work? 

I think the biggest part of it is just helping the students and seeing them achieve their goals. There are a lot of times when they’re struggling and we’re able to help them. I think the best part is our graduation ceremonies. I get to meet a lot of our students. You get to watch them day in and day out as they come and go to class. As time goes by, they complete the program, and then you see them at graduation. 

Yeah, that must be rewarding. 

Our job is challenging, but I love it. You know? It’s stressful, but I just keep going. I liked it. I like my job. 

What are some challenges? 

This is a good challenge right now: We have some of our sites where we have so many students that it’s crowded, and we’re trying to find a place where we can relocate so that we can accommodate everyone and the programs that we have. 

What does success look like to you? 

That we’re able to offer our programs to the students and help them achieve their goals. A lot of our students did not get an education in their country, haven’t been to school. So, they’re coming here. They’re nervous. They’re scared. Some of our students will start in our ESL program, and once their instructor sees that they’re doing well with the language, they’ll move on to the high school program and they graduate. That is a success. To have someone start that had never been to school in their life, and they start here with us, and they go through it and they complete the program. 

Are there any future plans or initiatives for the program? 

Mr. Villarino has been working on developing the cooperatives that he’s been talking to the staff about lately. Once that is set up, it will help our students be able to have their own businesses. If you’re in one of our Career Technical Education pathways, once these co-ops are set, that’s something where we would be able to help our students set up their own businesses. 

How did you end up with the UFW? 

My parents worked under a union contract. One day, I was still in high school and was like, “Mom, there’s a guy outside with Dad.” She’s like, “Oh, it’s one of those union people. Don’t pay attention to them.” The UFW was trying to organize the company where both of my parents worked. We knew about the Union, and we knew about Cesar. So, this guy was trying to get my dad to sign the authorization card saying that they wanted the union there, and my mom was so against it. There was an election held at their company. The UFW won, and they negotiated a contract. My mom was a part of the committee. My dad was a shop steward, and they were always at the 40 Acres. I was always with them. I was in high school, but I went into independent study and started working full-time for the UFW. It’s exciting. 

And your mom ended up on the committee. 

My mom was 100% changed. I don’t know what happened to her. She was the one that was more motivated and more involved than my dad.