ABOUT YESENIA CUELLO

​Yesenia Cuello was raised in a small immigrant farmworker community in Pink Hill, Lenoir County, NC where she worked summers as a tobacco worker alongside her mother and siblings from age fourteen. Yesenia is a co-founder of NC FIELD as a Poder Juvenil Campesino youth council President; former board of directors Public Relations Chair; former Program Manager; and assumed the position of Executive Director in 2019. After a decade focused on community building and education with youth and families, Yesenia and her community, including current and former youth council members, and allies, successfully utilized their resources and strong partnerships to ensure a robust pandemic response, facilitate equitable access to healthcare, outreach and education, material resources, and supplemental food supplies. Yesenia expanded staff from one full-time employee in 2019 to include four major program teams, including six bilingual and bicultural Community Health Workers intimately familiar with immigrant farmworker communities, and trained to perform social determinants case management; certified as FFM Health Marketplace Navigators; eligibility and applications specialists; Alcohol and Drug Counseling; and medical interpretation. Sembrando Salud CHW staff have successfully assisted nearly 8,000 vulnerable farmworkers with overcoming barriers to healthcare, including COVID-19 resources, specialist care, AIDS resources, alcohol and drug addiction, medication access with partners and Med-Assist, food supplies, and more. Currently, NC FIELD has formal mobile health access agreements in place to address evening healthcare needs and has expanded operationally to include services sites in Lenoir, Duplin, Wayne, and Johnston Counties.