Staff

Ana Beltran loves working with farmworkers and enjoys taking the time to get to know each of their personalities and learn about their different cultures. She also loves working as a team with her NCFWP coworkers where she works hard to practice open communication which allows her and the entire team to achieve more together. Her motto at work is “when you love your job, you enjoy every day!” It is very important to Ana to treat her coworkers and the farmworkers they serve with the respect that they all deserve. Ana likes to always be prepared and to stay informed in the topics that she works on to make sure that she is offering the best and most up to date services to the farmworkers that she works with.

Ana has been with the North Carolina Farmworkers Project for over 10 years now, and currently serves as an Affordable Care Act (ACA) Enrollment and Outreach Specialist. As an ACA Enrollment Specialist, she works to ensure that farmworkers have health insurance coverage. As an Outreach Specialist Ana does field visits to learn about the farmworkers and their current conditions and needs so that she can work with the team to connect them with the resources that are available. Ana has great admiration and respect for farmworkers. Seeing firsthand the poor conditions in which many migrant farmworkers live and work has made Ana determined to do her best at work every day.

Outside of work Ana enjoys spending time in nature and gathering with family. She loves nothing more than seeing big smiles on her family member’s faces.

Chris Bernart, PA-C, MPH first started out in migrant health as an Outreach Worker in 1990. Seeing the health disparities among migrant farmworkers inspired Chris to pursue a physician assistant degree at Duke University. Since then, Chris has provided primary care to farmworkers in NC for over 25 years. He also worked for UNC taking care of HIV+ patients in health departments and the prison system. Currently he takes care of NCFWP patients via telehealth, focusing on the management of hypertension, diabetes, lipids and tobacco cessation. In his spare time, Chris likes to stay active by hiking and going to the gym.

Balbina Cerro first became involved with farmworkers as a volunteer working with various nonprofits at local health fairs in her community. In this capacity she learned about the available resources and about the importance of preventative health care through education. Balbina has extensive past experience as a community educator, including working with March of Dimes and as a community health worker at El Pueblo in Raleigh. Balbina has been with the North Carolina Farmworkers Project since 2015. In her current role, she coordinates the Campbell Mobile Clinic, the clinic in Dunn, and the overall partnership with Campbell University.

Balbina loves the incredible team of coworkers that she has and feels grateful to have the opportunity to work and learn from them every day! One of the things that she loves most about her job is training new people that she meets and making connections and building partnerships with others in the community to ensure that the farmworkers have the resources that they need. Outside of work, Balbina enjoys visiting parks with her children, camping on the weekends, and best of all, making a bonfire with her family.

Wendy De Elvir is a Behavioral Health Specialist and the Telehealth Coordinator at the North Carolina Farmworkers Project. Originally from Honduras, Wendy arrived to the United States in 2011. She began working with NCFWP in 2018 in the field as an Outreach Worker. When the pandemic came, Wendy transitioned to seeing clients online, and in 2021, she moved into her current role as Telehealth and Behavioral Health Coordinator. In her free time Wendy enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and her adorable little dog, Benji.

Gabriela “Vicky” Elvir Hernandez is originally from Honduras and arrived in North Carolina in 2010. Vicky originally became involved with the North Carolina Farmworkers Project (NCFWP) through an AmeriCorps Program in 2012 where she worked directly with Farmworkers providing education on a variety of public health measures including pesticide use and heat stroke awareness. In 2013 Vicky continued her work with NCFWP as an Outreach Worker. In this role Vicky visits work camps to provide education on public health issues. She works to connect the workers with health care providers in the counties where they work, makes medical appointment referrals, and facilitates transportation to and from appointments. Vicky is also the University of North Carolina (UNC) Mobile Clinic Coordinator. Starting in May of each year, Vicky works with doctors and students from the University of North Carolina to make weekly visits to the farmworker camps during the harvesting season.

Vicky loves her job with NCFWP and feels so grateful to be part of such a great team. Outside of work Vicky enjoys bike riding as a form of exercise. In her free time, she enjoys watching TV at home with her husband and sweet little dogs.

Born in Dunn and raised in Benson, North Carolina, Monica Benson has past experience working in the fast food industry, medical offices, and with migrant farmworkers. In her current role as Administrative Assistant of the North Carolina Farmworkers Project, Monica makes sure the office is running smoothly and that her coworkers have what they need to be successful in the field.

Monica is very family oriented and you can catch her shopping, traveling, and spending time with her family and friends often. A foodie at heart, Monica loves to try different culture’s foods and during summertime she loves spending weekends at the beach.

Leonardo Galvan Cardona has been with the North Carolina Farmworkers Project for over 25 years. Before joining the project Leonardo worked himself as a migrant farmworker for over ten years in Virginia, Florida, and North Carolina. He currently serves as an Outreach Worker, the Coordinator of the Easter Carolina University Dental Program, and as a Behavioral Health Support Specialist at NCFWP. As an outreach worker Leonardo leads a promotores program with farmworkers, inviting workers themselves to be lay health leaders among their peers. Before serving in this capacity, he conducted research projects for over 13 years with Wake Forest University, where he gained experience in research around pesticides and farmworker living conditions. In his free time, he likes to stay in shape by doing various types of exercise.

Diana Ibarra began working with the NC Farmworkers project in 2020. Her initial work focused around the needs of the pandemic, primarily working with farmworkers to coordinate Covid testing and vaccinations. In her current role as an outreach coordinator, Diana coordinates field visits and provides farmworkers with a variety of services including transportation, interpretation, and health education. In her free time Diana enjoys spending time outside and with her family. She also likes to exercise and read. Self-help books are her favorite genre, let her know if you have a suggestion!

Allison Lipscomb, MPH, BSN, RN is the North Carolina Farmworkers Project Director of Clinical Quality. In this role she helps the team serve our many farmworker patients with hypertension and diabetes through training, health education resources, case management, and clinical quality improvement.

Allison got involved in farmworker health in 2003 through the NC Farmworker Health Program and has been fortunate to serve in many roles since then including outreach, program leadership, technical assistance, training, and now nursing. In her free time Allison enjoys traveling with her partner and daughter, playing in a local orchestra, and staying active through swimming and trail running.

Maria Elena Mejia, originally from Honduras, joined the North Carolina Farmworkers Project as an Outreach Worker in 2010. Maria currently serves as an Outreach Worker and the Coordinator of the Benson Health Clinic. She also coordinates many visits for farmworkers who need to be seen by specialists. Working with farmworkers brings Maria such love, life, and happiness! She is passionate about serving and supporting migrant farmworkers who remain some of the least protected and most invisible workers in our communities. Her main objective at work is always the wellbeing of the farmworkers that put food on the tables across the country! She is also very grateful to work with such a great team of coworkers.

Outside of work Maria loves to hang out and have picnic gatherings with family and friends. She also tries to get at least some exercise each day, such as bike riding or walking, as she finds that getting moving in these ways keeps her healthy and happy!

Janeth Tapia began working with the North Carolina Farmworkers Project in 2000 as an AmeriCorps volunteer providing health education to women farmworkers. Janeth was originally drawn to working with the agricultural community because she saw that they were some of the least privileged people with the most significant needs in the rural areas where she lived. Janeth then became the coordinator of a community health program focused on household pesticide prevention. Through this program she learned about and used the Popular Education model of teaching and became passionate about the method after seeing its success in the field. In 2004 Janeth began working as the Outreach Coordinator for the health program where she coordinated visits to farmworker camps; maintained connections with groups of volunteers, clinics, and students; and mentored and led the team of outreach workers. Janeth currently serves as the Director of Programs at NCFWP.

An expert in motivating the community, Janeth has overseen the enormous growth of the health program – from serving 130 workers in its first year to more than 3,000 today. Janeth continues to thrive and learn so much as every day is different and there are always more people to serve and new challenges to solve.

In the little free-time that she has, Janeth likes to walk in open spaces and parks and admire the plants and natural beauty around her. She also loves a good conversation, and will never say “no” to a good cup of coffee to accompany it.

Neissly Tapia started working at the North Carolina Farmworkers Project in 2016 as a temporary Affordable Care Act Outreach Worker, providing education and assistance for farmworkers to secure health insurance. In 2017 she moved to her current position as Certified Application Counselor and Enrollment Specialist. In this role Neissly serves the farmworker community by providing services such as translating and transportation to medical appointments, providing health education, providing assistance with health insurance, and filling out applications for charity care at the different local hospitals. Neissly is very grateful and honored to be able to serve her community in these ways.

Outside of work Neissly serves her community through another passion of hers, Zumba! Neissly offers free community Zumba dance classes that promote staying active and healthy. In her free time Neissly loves getting outside and spending time with her husband, four children, and two grandchildren.

Quirina Vallejos is a Chicana who grew up in Colorado, participated in Latine student groups in high school and college and discovered a passion for social justice by participating in spring break community service trips while an undergraduate at Duke University. Quirina earned a Master of Public Health focused on community health education at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She first met colleagues from the North Carolina Farmworkers’ Project (NCFWP) when she was a Project Manager at Wake Forest School of Medicine for studies focused on the health of farmworkers and NCFWP was a main community partner in the research. Quirina was President of the NCFWP Board of Directors for 7 years before becoming the Executive Director in 2022.

Quirina has deep respect for the outreach team and their dedication to serving farmworkers. It is her honor to be able to work alongside these amazing people to create a community in which farmworkers are visible, respected, feel cared for, and are able to access the care they need to keep themselves healthy. Quirina is especially passionate about encouraging the NCFWP staff to take as excellent care of themselves as they do of the farmworker community. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her large family and being active, preferably outdoors. She likes cycling, hiking, walking the dogs, hot yoga, learning to sail, paddling, swimming, camping, and all things that involve sun and fresh air. She also loves sharing good food with the many good people who she is blessed to call her friends and family.

Ann Watson is a social worker passionate about building healthier, more inclusive communities through equitable access to health and education—particularly for immigrant and refugee populations. Ann began her career in Washington, DC as a perinatal home visitor at a community health center, where she saw firsthand the power of culturally responsive care and the importance of meeting people where they are. She went on to spend four years living and working as an educator in rural Costa Rica, broadening her global perspective and deepening her appreciation for popular education. Prior to joining the Farmworkers’ Project in 2022, Ann spent a decade with the NC Farmworker Health Program in the Office of Rural Health, supporting a statewide network of farmworker health programs. It was through this work that she was first introduced to the Farmworkers’ Project and quickly developed a deep admiration for the team. In addition to her state-level work, Ann has provided technical assistance and capacity building on a national level in her role as a program director at Farmworker Justice, a nonprofit based in DC. Ann holds a Master of Social Work from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Arts from Guilford College. She lives in Durham with her husband, two young sons, and two quirky dogs. Outside of work, she enjoys spending time in nature, discovering new places, and creating beauty through design.