Fernando graduated from Humboldt in 2008 with a double degree in History and Ethnic Studies. He returned to Humboldt the spring of 2013 to pursue his Masters in Social Sciences offered through the Environment and Community program. As an undergraduate at Humboldt, he was a peer mentor in the Latino Peer Mentoring Program, and the Latino Community Liaison Event Coordinator for the MultiCultural Center. Following his graduation he worked as a community scholar organizing around social justice issues in Humboldt County and nationally. Prior to coming working on campus, he worked with True North Organizing Network, and previously worked with the Humboldt Area Foundation, the Multigenerational Center, M/WEND (Men and Women Experiencing Non-violent Direction), as well as with People Improving Community through Organizing (PICO) on their national immigration advocacy campaign named "LA RED". He is co-founder of PARA (People Affected by the Raid in Arcata) and Centro del Pueblo. Most recently he was the coordinator for the El Centro Academico Cultural at Cal Poly Humboldt.