Pronouns - he/they series
Ruben E. Canedo currently serves dual roles as (i) Director of Strategic Equity Initiatives within UC Berkeley’s Division of Equity & Inclusion; (ii) Co-Director of Education & Training for the UC Essential Needs Consortium (UCENC) within the larger Center for Economic Justice & Action (CEJA).
[UC-Level] In 2012-2013, Ruben was appointed to the dual roles of Chair of the UC Berkeley Basic Needs Committee and then, in 2013-2014, Co-Chair of the UC Systemwide Basic Needs Committee. In 2023-2024, Ruben co-founded the UCENC, which exists within the larger CEJA. These combined efforts serve over 70,000 unique undergraduate and graduate students across the 10 UC campuses per academic year.
[State-Level] Beyond UC, Ruben is a co-founder and facilitator of the California Higher Education Basic Needs Alliance (CHEBNA) that unites and coordinates basic needs efforts across all campuses and statewide offices of California’s public higher education segments: California Community Colleges (CCC), California State Universities (CSU), University of California (UC). This alliance represents over 2 million college students in the state of California, specifically to improve their basic needs experiences coming into, moving through, and preparing for their lives beyond their final degree.
[National-Level] Lastly, Ruben is a Co-Founder and inaugural Coordination Committee member of the recently launched National Coalition for College Student Essential Needs, currently in over 20 states across the country.
