Why Community is Key

One of Rafael Saucedo’s worst memories was his first quarter of his freshman year in college. “I was very depressed. I did not like Tacoma, I did not like UW Tacoma. But I had a major realization,” he said. “I thought, ‘how can I make that call when I don’t even really leave my dorm room?’ I mean, I would go from my dorm room to my classes and then back to my dorm and nothing else really.”

Saucedo grew up in the Tri-Cities in eastern Washington where his parents — immigrant farm workers who worked hard to send him, a first generation, and English as a second language college student — to school to get an education. He grew up in a warm and loving community and was in search of that when considering which communities or clubs he could join at UW Tacoma.

“That was kind of my launching pad,” Saucedo said. “I started making friends, I signed up to serve as secretary for the Latino Student Union and volunteered for ASUWT as well as the Student Activities Board.” It was the right choice for him, and by his sophomore year, Saucedo was a Student Leader and the Entertainment Coordinator for the Student Activities Board involved in programming for student life, putting on events and building community within the student body. One of the biggest tasks he undertook in this role was a fundraising benefit concert with all proceeds going to the Tacoma School of the Arts. It was an important event among all the others he’d had that led him to an interest in things like public and community relations, philanthropy and connecting through networking. 

“The following year, I was selected to serve as chair of the Student Activities Board, leading a team of six student leaders. I met a number of great people and was able to grow my network in and outside of the UW Tacoma community ,” he said. Now fully immersed in student life, enjoying his college experience, and getting serious about graduation and next steps, Saucedo felt like he was moving in the right direction.

He had entered college with the idea that he would go into medicine, but that very quickly changed when he took his first science class and said, “no, thank you.” He laughed as he explained the shift. “I decided I’d go the administrative route and majored in Healthcare Leadership.” Saucedo graduated with his bachelor’s in 2017. “Toward the end of my undergraduate program, I found myself in the world of healthcare marketing and fundraising, and community relations,” he said. That change sparked some interest in the graduate program in Community Planning from the School of Urban Studies, where Saucedo graduated with a master’s degree in 2019.

Saucedo said his work in community relations led to an interest in a number of other opportunities, and with a Master’s in Community Planning, he worked for Forterra, a Seattle-based environmental nonprofit where he lead corporate fundraising initiatives. When Covid hit, Rafael was wanting a career change which led him to the world of credit unions. Rafael’s credit union career started at Gesa Credit Union leading community giving initiatives and events and is now at Boeing Employees Credit Union (BECU) as their Philanthropy Program Manager. While he’s no longer in the healthcare field, he does find himself advocating for the financial health and wellness of various communities across Washington and other states, a thread he can pull on from his time at UW Tacoma.

“My main responsibility at BECU is to bring life to the credit union’s commitment to financial health and wellness,” Saucedo said.  “My team’s focus on financial health and wellness is made up of five different areas of impact which is where our work lives. These areas include safe and affordable access to financial services, postsecondary education and college access, financial literacy, workforce and entrepreneur development, and housing stability and homeownership. Saucedo said. BECU works with over 200 nonprofit partners with a shared goal of improving financial health for all communities.

“We’ve been able to fund some innovative projects and initiatives. For example, we’ve partnered with Good Roots NW, formerly known as the Bonney Lake Food Bank,” Saucedo said. The group is primarily known for food access for individuals in need. “But they’ve also created a job-training programs, which intersects with BECU’s workforce development work,” he said.

In addition to engaging community organizations that are aligned with BECU’s financial health strategies, Rafael also helps lead partnerships within the credit union industry to help maintain the spirit of cooperatives alive and well.

“Within my role, I am also tasked with leading partnerships with key industry organization like the National Association of Latino Credit Unions and Professionals, Credit Union Pride, which is the LGBTQIA industry networking group , and other industry partners with the purpose of connecting employees to a variety of resources and opportunities to build community,” he said.

Looking back now, Saucedo said UW Tacoma seemed like a natural fit. After he shook off his first quarter blues, he took advantage of what he said he knew was a non-traditional university. Saucedo said  the reality of being an adult, enrolled in a university, sunk in after being in Dr. Alison Cardinal’s classes. “She would talk to me as an adult, and I felt seen as an adult, and it was really the first time that had happened since leaving the Tri-Cities,” he said. “It made such an impact on me as it served as an introduction to the ‘real world’.”

Likewise, Saucedo felt Dr. Christine Stevens, associate professor in the School of Nursing & Healthcare Leadership, brought so much passion and enthusiasm to work of healthcare which was contagious. “She was everyone’s biggest cheerleader and support system as well as mine during and after graduating from the program.” Kim Davenport was another faculty member who had an early impact on him during his undergraduate degree. Saucedo said that her knowledge and appreciation of Tacoma really helped lead him out of his shell, and even assisted in doing research that was published during a summer internship for Davenport, on an iconic Lincoln High School student road trip to St. Louis.

Saucedo said one role at UW Tacoma in which he served that stands out even more prominently was when he became president of Partners in Action to Transform Healthcare, a student club associated with the Healthcare Leadership major. “We hosted a variety of events inviting people from all over the university, and was able to prepare a group of fellow student leaders to attend the American Healthcare Executives conference in Chicago in 2013, where we got to network with healthcare experts and administrators from across the country,” he said.

“I love that I get to support diverse communities as well as the overall  credit union industry which has opened up a world of various communities, connections, and life changing experiences. When working with communities I go all in, and they become a part of my identity,” Saucedo said.