Sonya Hernandez is the ALAS coordinator and (nid June) Assistant Director of the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at GRCC, and Governor appointed Commissioner on the Hispanic Latino Commission of Michigan.

Her passion for education and reaching youth is one that she enjoys sharing with groups. Sonya Hernandez is a certified K-12 bilingual administrator in the State of Michigan and has worked as a paraprofessional, classroom assistant, classroom teacher, Dean of Students, and a building principal.

Through her years of work in education, she found that the foundation to being a successful educator is building relationships. Sonya shares how she approaches the youth she works with and how it works in her world of work.

Sonya shares her story with youth and serves as an inspirational speaker and role model. She holds her Associates Degree from Muskegon Community College, Bachelor’s Degree (Spanish- major; Sociology- minor) from Grand Valley State University, Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership from Grand Valley State University, Educational Specialist Degree in Educational Leadership from Grand Valley State University, and is planning to complete her Doctoral studies in Educational Leadership from Eastern Michigan University soon.