Learn about CVCF Board Co-Chair Vivian Paz’s philanthropic roots

CVCF Board Co-Chair Vivian Paz’s, love for serving her community was instilled in her as a child. Raised in the rural city of Laton, this passion catalyzed her path which includes a legal career, dedicated board service and a joint business venture with her husband, Dr. Carlos Paz. In her role as CVCF Board Co-Chair, Vivian presides over all the Board of Directors and Executive Committee meetings and plays an instrumental role in fostering transformative change locally.

Vivian’s first inspiration was her mother, who was a first-generation college student and a teacher in Riverdale. In her spare time, she supported farmworker families and encouraged parents to let their kids finish high school, attend youth conferences at Fresno State and enroll in college. Her mother developed a reputation for using her bilingual skills to be a resource for furthering the success of her community. Observing her mom’s volunteerism led Vivian to ponder, “How could I use my own lived experience, growing up here, and educational pursuits to see how we can make the world better for folks?” 

Seeing firsthand the challenges faced by farmworkers, led Vivian to pursue a legal career to help disenfranchised groups. “When I did legal aid, I would see mothers and babies living in infested areas,” Vivian said. “That really inspired my legal career.” Vivian went on to work at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in rural economic development and worked with federal agencies to improve delivery coordination of services to farmworker communities.

Vivian’s first served on a nonprofit board upon returning to the Central Valley after receiving her bachelor’s degree from Brown University and her law degree from UC Berkeley. She was drawn to Arte Américas’ board due to feeling that the “organization is a gem in our Valley.” She credits the organization for uplifting and amplifying Latino culture. “We, Latinos, are not portrayed in the most positive light, so it’s nice that we have a place founded by educators, where not just Latinos can gather — but the community and be collectively brought together — to learn about our cultural traditions and even borrow them,” Vivian said. This board service was special to Vivian because she got to bring alongside her children and have them experience cultural exchanges and multigenerational learning. “I love being part of organizations that expose youth to different opportunities,” Vivian said.

Since 2018, Vivian has proudly served on the CVCF board. She gravitated toward CVCF after having her second child and noticing the lack of parks and cultural activities available to children locally. “It was transformational, to me, taking my kids to the park and museums and seeing how they were underfunded,” Vivian said. “I loved that CVCF was working on Measure P and the leadership work it was executing to bring together leaders and community members. Measure P really brought consistent work to our parks. I really wanted to be a part of those efforts in the community.” 

Vivian’s ties to CVCF date back to her time participating in the Ivy League Project, an organization that is dedicated to preparing academically gifted, low-income and first-generation Central Valley high school students to attend top-tier universities. She recalled feeling inspired after attending Saturday sessions to learn from Central Valley professionals. “In Laton, there were not many professionals, so it meant a lot hearing former Congressman Cal Dooley and former Assemblymember Juan Arambula speak to us.” Years later, Vivian would briefly serve alongside Juan Arambula on the CVCF Board.

Throughout her more than eight-year CVCF Board tenure, Vivian has learned about the significant challenges the Valley faces and the brainstorming and convening it takes to create transformative change for this region. “You are not ever going to climb out of the bottom of the pit unless you know where you are and develop a plan to triumphantly emerge out of that situation,” Vivian said. “The DRIVE Initiative really showed me what can happen when people come together and develop plans for shovel-ready projects.” Vivian hopes to see more opportunities for educational entities to work together to increase high school students’ college and trade school acceptance rates and provide them with living wages. She would also like the Valley to have a more equitable health care system, with more health care access to rural communities.

Professionally, Vivian co-founded Paz Dermatology with her husband, Dr. Carlos Paz. The practice employs 45 employees, 97% of whom are women with children. Through training opportunities, she has seen staff evolve in their careers from holding entry-level roles to becoming nurses and managers. “I love seeing my staff grow, become empowered and achieve milestones like becoming homeowners,” she said. Due to Dr. Paz’s meaningful experience shadowing a doctor as a high school student, students are given the opportunity to shadow providers at the practice. In 2013, the practice had their first intern, who later became an anesthesiologist.

Vivian encourages those interested in volunteerism to research local nonprofits and find a niche where they can serve their community. “There is a need for people with many talents to serve on boards,” Vivian said. “These organizations need leaders in our community to commit time and ideas to help them thrive. I encourage people to find a nonprofit that is working on ideas they are passionate about.”

To learn more about local nonprofits and volunteer opportunities, visit HandsOn Central California’s website.