When community members give on Day of Giving, they provide opportunities for students to participate in a variety of high-impact learning activities. In March of 2025, while still a doctoral candidate, Dr. Estevan Parra-Guerrero applied to use the Dean’s Innovation Fund to support his travel to present at the regional NASPA Conference in Palm Springs — a trip he would take following his graduation. The funds, he said, were key to presenting his research.
“If I hadn’t received the support from Kremen [School], I think that dissertation would still be on my bookshelf,” Parra-Guerrero said.
He arrived at the conference to find he was assigned the largest room to present his dissertation findings. While he often gives professional presentations for student recruitment, presenting his academic work was new territory for him.
“It was really all kinds of mixed emotions because when I was on my doctorate, I had told myself that I did not want to open that dissertation until a year later. It was a lot of work, a lot of good work, but also the research; it was very emotional,” Parra-Guerrero said.
His mentor, Martina Granados, interim associate vice president for strategic enrollment management at Fresno State, encouraged him to submit a presentation proposal to the November NASPA conference. He reluctantly agreed and applied to the Dean’s Innovation Fund through the Kremen School of Education and Human Development dean’s office, which is funded in part by Day of Giving donations. Still, he was apprehensive about presenting.
“I reached out, and honestly, I was hoping the response would be that there is no funding,” Parra-Guerrero said.
Standing at the front and looking out, he found several of his colleagues, faculty members and even his dissertation chair, Dr. Susana Hernandez, were in the audience as he began presenting his findings.
“It was an incredibly proud and meaningful moment. Watching Dr. Parra-Guerrero present with confidence, clarity and scholarly depth at a regional conference was deeply rewarding,” Hernandez said.
Parra-Guerrero’s dissertation is titled “Exploring the Influence of Parental Work Ethic and Cultural Norms on Latina/o/x First-Generation Millennial Student Affairs Leaders at Fresno State.” The qualitative study used pláticas-testimonios, a combination of informal conversations and testimonials, to focus on the experiences of Latina/o/x first-generation millennial student affairs leaders at Fresno State, a Hispanic-Serving Institution. The study sought to embrace the power of storytelling.
“It wasn’t your traditional interview. I was engaging. There were tears involved, there was laughter,” Parra-Guerrero said.
The research found that Latina/o/x first-generation millennials carry deeply ingrained cultural norms learned from their parents, including oral histories that emphasize resilience and preservation, and core values that hold that hard work and a strong work ethic lead to reward. The research showed institutions often exploit these cultural norms, assigning “other duties” without providing fair compensation or support. Furthermore, many Latina/o/x are overlooked for promotion, with only 9.2% reaching management positions nationally compared to about 57% of their white counterparts.
“I remind my leadership and colleagues that if staff are unhappy, they’re going to offer bad service to the students. If staff come in happy, and we protect them, we take care of them. They’re going to offer a great service to the student,” Parra-Guerrero said. “It’s an ecosystem, right? We’re here to serve the students.”
Following his presentation, Parra-Guerrero took questions from the audience, and that’s where he could tell his work connected with them. Emotions ran high, and Parra-Guerrero said several people told him they related to his findings and that more student affairs professionals needed to know about it.
“It was clear that his work resonated intellectually and personally, sparking meaningful dialogue and connection amongst attendees,” Hernandez said. “It was also a packed room, signaling great interest in his research topic and the importance of the knowledge he contributed.”
Encouragement from his mentor, combined with support from the Dean’s Innovation Fund, funded in part by Day of Giving donations, motivated Parra-Guerrero to take the next step in his educational leadership journey. He is now preparing to discuss his research as part of a panel discussion at the Western Association of Educational Opportunity Personnel annual conference in Hawaii this March.
“Experiences like this are critical for higher education students and student affairs professionals because they foster professional identity development, build scholarly confidence and create opportunities for collaboration and visibility. They allow emerging scholars, especially first-generation and students of color, to see themselves as contributors to the field’s knowledge base and leaders in shaping its future,” Hernandez said.
Parra-Guerrero has worked at Fresno State for the past eight years and is currently the director of Upward Bound, a TRIO program funded through grants by the U.S. Department of Education. Upward Bound serves high school students from low-income families and from families in which neither parent holds a bachelor’s degree. The goal is to increase the rate at which participants complete high school and enroll in and graduate from college. In 2025, The Business Journal named Parra-Guerrero to its 40 under 40, an award recognizing emerging leaders under 40 years of age.
He holds three degrees from Fresno State, including a bachelor’s in business administration, a master’s in higher education administration and leadership and a doctoral degree in educational leadership from Fresno State. He was the 2025 Graduate Dean’s Medalist for the Kremen School.
