Dora Beyer is the eldest daughter of four, a first-generation college student, and a self-proclaimed serial organizer. Above all, she is an advocate that empowers everyone around her, and has since she was younger. From an internship at Pajaro Valley High School (PVHS) in Watsonville in her first year at UC Santa Cruz to her current role as the director of community development for Excite Credit Union, Beyer supports those in underserved communities.
Beyer (Merrill ’09, Latin American & Latino studies, politics) was recently named one of Silicon Valley Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 for her work assisting low-income communities as director of community development with Excite Credit Union.
“My job is to reach the unbanked, under-banked, and credit invisible, and those who need a credit union the most,” Beyer said. “I get to do the work of being in the community to reach those who historically mistrust financial institutions.”
Beyer’s passion for helping others began at UC Santa Cruz as a student pursuing Latin American and Latino studies (LALS) and politics. She was the first in her family to attend college in the U.S.
It was the first space she was in where there was a broad mix of people with different socioeconomic backgrounds and a limited number of people who shared her Mexican background. This did not deter Beyer.
The trees, the ocean, the people, and the opportunity beckoned Beyer to take advantage of it all.
One month into starting classes at UCSC, Beyer began working with first-generation students at Pajaro Valley High School (PVHS) in Watsonville through UCSC’s Educational Partnership Center.
PVHS didn’t normally hire college freshmen, and Beyer didn't have a car to get to Watsonville. She figured out which bus route to take and the time to leave, showing her interviewer that she could do the job. For fifteen years, well past graduating, she continued working with the same demographic of students.
That, combined with her Latin American and Latino studies (LALS) and politics courses, changed how Beyer thought about academia.
“I didn't understand the structural barriers that were there historically based on someone's zip code, the color of their skin, or economic background,” Beyer said. “LALS and politics allowed me to better understand why programs like Educational Opportunity Programs (EOP) and affirmative action are really valuable to rectify the errors of our social and educational history.”
Beyer knew she wanted to give back to her community and beyond in whatever career path she chose. Outside of academics, she experimented with extracurriculars and found herself volunteering at different places like the Condom Co-op run by Student Health Outreach and Promotion (SHOP). But it was Grupo Folklórico Los Mejicas de UCSC where she found her community.
“Mejicas was my home away from home. It was exercise and a way to not think about work and classes and whatever felt overwhelming at the time,” Beyer said. “It was also a place to learn what Folklórico dance meant from the different regions to the music. But at the same time, I was making friends. I have lifelong friends that I still talk to every week, even nineteen years later.”
Among those that Dora Beyer met at UCSC was the late Omar Gallardo, a beloved community organizer who passed away in the Fall of 2024.
"Omar upheld cultural practices such as Aztec dance and served as a teacher to students," Beyer said. “We honor the late Omar Gallardo, who danced with Grupo Folklórico Los Mejicas de UCSC.”
Turning education into action
After graduating from UC Santa Cruz in 2009, Beyer found a job with help from the university’s EOP and Career Center at the California Student Opportunity And Access Program (San Jose Cal-SOAP). She worked with K-12 students and families from low-income and marginalized communities to better understand and gain access to higher education. It was the on the ground community work she had been searching for. Four years later she transitioned to doing similar work with Breakthrough Silicon Valley.
The work, though gratifying, became tiring. In July 2019, she left her job without having another one on the docket—the scariest thing she had ever done.
“It was really hard to reconcile the fact that something that I loved so much could also be the thing that was burning me out. After fifteen years of doing that type of work, I transitioned,” Beyer said.
Ready to take the next step in her career, Beyer submitted her application to work for Excite Credit Union in San Jose, a Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) with low-income credit union and Juntos Avanzamos designations, recognizing credit unions committed to serving and empowering Hispanic and immigrant consumers.
In this new world of finance, Beyer is still doing what she initially sought: creating equitable access to underserved communities. In addition to her professional work, Beyer volunteers as a board chair with the Center for Excellence in Nonprofits, serves on the board of the Latina Coalition of Silicon Valley, and is a Founding Member of the Entrepreneurship Giving Circle for the Latino Community Foundation.
Beyer’s open-mindedness and chance-taking brought her to where she is. And her time and experience at UC Santa Cruz propelled those qualities.
“I only realized once I was at college the type of impact that it would have on my future and how much I would grow being away from my family,” Beyer said. ”UCSC taught me to question the status quo, leverage my transferable skills, connect with others and find what I am passionate about.”
