Selection Committee

Rita O’Neill serves as the Director of Student Health & Wellness Services and has overseen the development of Basic Needs programs since 2019. She is a current member of the campus-wide Safer Return Task Force.

Before coming to Cal Poly Pomona, Rita’s experience included more than 15 years in leadership roles in large healthcare organizations and more recently, leadership of Student Health clinical operations at USC. One of her proudest accomplishments was designing and implementing large scale population health initiatives for Kaiser which served 55,000 patients.

Rita’s past community service activities include serving as the elected Vice President of the Board of Directors for a community health clinic and participating as a regional competition judge for the American Mock Trial Association.

Rita earned a Juris Doctor (JD) from Loyola Law School, a Master of Healthcare Administration (MHA) from University of La Verne and completed undergraduate studies in English and Political Science at Occidental College. She has published articles on social policy relating to the Australian film industry and international law applied to post-war humanitarian aid. Rita recently developed and taught a graduate level degree course on healthcare law for Concordia University at Irvine.

Dr. Phyllis R. Nelson is a Cal Poly Pomona alum who joined the Electrical and Computer Engineering department as faculty in 1999 after a career as an engineer in the aerospace industry and research positions at Université Claude Bernard - Lyon I in France and at UCLA. At Cal Poly Pomona Dr. Nelson has served as co-director of the Center for Macromolecular Modeling and Materials Design, a department chair, and chair of the Academic Senate. She is currently the Faculty Director of Data Analytics in the Divisiohn of Academic Affairs. Dr. Nelson is a Senior Life Member of IEEE and a Senior Member of Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America).

Kevin L. Malone is the Associate Director for Student Health & Wellness Services. He has been with Cal Poly Pomona for fourteen (14) years. Most recently, he has been part of the leadership team overseeing the Public Health Testing Site. He was born and raised in Long Beach and received his master’s degree from Cal Poly Pomona and bachelor’s degree from CSU Long Beach. Kevin enjoys hiking in national parks, traveling, and spending as much time with his family.

Vanessa Garcia serves as the Customer Support & Workflow Manager for Facilities Planning & Management. In her role, she oversees the coordination and logistics for special events/LOF, provides direction to the customer service team and manages both warehouse and accounting personnel. Vanessa’s tenure at Cal Poly Pomona spans 13 years, culminating in her recent graduation from the EDGE program. Outside of work, she finds joy in spending her free time on family outings and coaching her daughter’s cheer team.

Reggie Robles (He,Him,His) graduated from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona with his B.A in Political Science. He went on to receive his M.S. in Higher Education from California State University, Fullerton. He is also in his first year in a Ph.D. in Education at Claremont Graduate University.

On September 2018, he started as the Leadership Development Coordinator at Cal Poly Pomona and has been able to create the largest co-curricular leadership certification program for students in such a short tenure. Leadership education and development has been a big part of his life and has become a huge passion for him. He has been in multiple leadership positions throughout NASPA and California Council for Cultural Centers in Higher Education.

Christy Orgeta serves as a Senior Coordinator for Residential Education and Leadership with University Housing Services. In her role, she oversees social and educational programming for Cal Poly Pomona's residential community. Outside of Cal Poly Pomona, Christy enjoys drawing, reading, and spending time with her loved ones.

Jesús Ávalos has over 15 years of experience as an award-winning learning and development professional, with an emphasis in communication and leadership development. He has served in various roles in both the public and private sector, from front-line trainer to VP of Learning and Development. In his current role as a Learning and Development Consultant, he develops and implements training solutions for diverse populations including staff, faculty, and students. In addition, he provides individualized leadership coaching across campus and lends his expertise in a consulting role for projects impacting the entire CPP community. He has also been called upon to serve as a trainer of trainers, facilitating professional development sessions for the Association of Talent Development.

Matt Walsh recently assumed the role of Associate Director of Volunteer Engagement for Alumni and External Relations. He has been with Cal Poly Pomona for over three years. He previously served as the inaugural Senior Coordinator of Parent and Family Engagement for the Office of New Student Programs and Family Engagement.

Matt is a proud alumnus of the CSU system having received his bachelor’s in philosophy and master’s in public administration from Cal State Fullerton. He is also a recent graduate of the EDGE program.