Founder & CEO

Ms. Hernandez is the chief executive officer of Rock'n Our Disabilities Foundation, which she founded in 2018 to present recreational, social and educational programs for special needs individuals and their families. Inspired by personal experiences in assisting family members to manage the challenges of disability, she brings creativity and determination to program development as well as on and off-site events planning, serving over 500 registered families. As a response to the pandemic a weekly food program began in 2021 and continues for families with special needs and disabilities. Ms. Hernandez also curates appropriate content to advance the organization's social media presence and interfaces directly with public partners.

Deep involvement with the Hesperia Chamber of Commerce, where she was the events and resources development coordinator, helped Ms. Hernandez gain the necessary expertise to handle the broad administrative duties inherent to her current mission. The foundation's ultimate goal is to build and sustain a camaraderie that can shield participants from the negative effects of being marginalized, and she remains proud of her role in keeping the foundation viable during the pandemic-related shutdowns; in fact, to deal with COVID-era restrictions, Ms. Hernandez temporarily shifted focus to a food bank model and effectively migrated other resources to a virtual platform.

Ms. Hernandez has enjoyed ample entrepreneurial success in diverse industries. Since 2009, for example, she has been the acting chief executive officer, membership coordinator and unit leader of Avon by Dana, and she also owns Simply Rockn' It Events, an initiative she began in 2016. She sought academic and professional training as a foundation for her pursuits, including the completion of coursework at Cerritos College and the Institute of Organizational Management. Moreover, in 2015, Ms. Hernandez completed a three-year training program labeled New Era of Chamber Management offered by the Western Association of Chamber Executives and the rigorous fundraising, strategic planning and logic models course offered by The Fundraising Academy in 2013.

Civic service has proven a key component of Ms. Hernandez's professional profile. She has volunteered as a board member of the Apple Valley Chamber of Commerce and is the former president and charter author of the Hesperia Centennial Lions Club. From 2011 to 2012, Ms. Hernandez collaborated on fundraising and event coordination at the Rose of Sharon Pregnancy Resource Center, and she is currently a member of the Information Exchange Committee of the Hesperia Police Department as well as the vice president of marketing for the Hesperia Chamber Toastmasters Daybreak.

Ms. Hernandez has been recognized for making numerous stellar contributions to her community; for example, in 2012, The Fundraising Academy named her Volunteer of the Year, and she earned the Assembly Certificate of Recognition and Volunteer of the Year Award from Assemblyman Tim Donnelly. In 2019, she was given the World Civility Award from I Change Nations and in 2019, she accepted the New Non-Profit of the Year commendation from Desert Manna on behalf of the Rock'n Our Disabilities Foundation. Distinguished recent acknowledgments include the 2020 Woman of the Year Award from Assemblyman Jay Obernolte and the Cal Non-Profit of the Year for the 21st Senate District from Senator Scott Wilk in 2022. Finally, Ms. Hernandez accepted a Women of Excellence Award from the Today's Woman Foundation in 2022.

Valuable partnerships with sister organizations and civic affiliations have helped Ms. Hernandez advance the mission of the nonprofit; she also credits her own persistence and courage, as well as the ability to gain the trust of city administrators. Looking to the future, Ms. Hernandez aims to open additional facilities across a broader region to extend her philanthropic reach. Moreover, she is actively preparing for the March 2023 opening of the foundation's learning center, through which participants will gain the necessary knowledge to succeed at college or employment and where workshops on understanding disability and other activities will be offered.

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