Born in Mexico, Aviña immigrated to the United States at ten years old. Education, mental health and immigrant rights have become paramount themes of her life’s work. Aviña holds credentials in Bilingual Teaching and School Counseling/Pupil Personnel Services (SC/PPSC) and an MA and License in Clinical Mental Health Counseling (CMHC)/Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and as a Professional Clinical Counselor (PCC).  

For the past three years, Meztli had been serving as the FYI, CAMP and now as an EOPS Counselor at Mendocino College as well as a CCS instructor.  Before Mendocino College, Meztli was a Counselor and Mental Health therapist at the Roseland District, and Sonoma County office of education as well as an Adjunct Professor for the Master of Arts in Counseling at Sonoma State University. Previous to counseling, Meztli was working with teens as a Social Worker for Public Health. Meztli has also worked at Santa Rosa Junior College as a Program Coordinator, Advisor & GED Coordinator to facilitate student success and retention for underrepresented Sonoma County youth and families. Meztli has over 20 years of experience in education and counseling.  

Meztli devotes a lot of her time to addressing the mental health needs of families and youth in our community. Meztli has served as a member of several community committees such as the Sueños Scholarship, Comite VIDA, Humanidad Therapy and Educational Services, Raizes Collective, Maternal, Child, Adolescent Health Advisory, and State Council on Developmental Disabilities for SCDD’s North Bay Regional. 

For several years, Meztli has also served as Puente Program Mentor. 

As a counselor, Meztli has been featured in academic films that touched upon language, culture, family, education, and work-related concerns, which impact the well-being and needs of immigrant families’ mental health. 

Through her past Meztli, was awarded the honor of Employee of the Month at SRJC. Additionally, for her community leadership Meztli was featured as Person of the Month for La Voz, Bilingual Newspaper in Sonoma County. She also appeared in the show, Retrato Hispano for Univision, and was nominated for the National Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Community Health Leaders Award. Meztli is grateful for the awards but she believes that she has been involved in the community because it truly comes from her heart.  Meztli believes that she has been successful in supporting students because she takes the time to listen to their needs.