About us

Who we are

Our Roots at Immpower

ImmPower is comprised of three colleagues who first met at their alma mater, the University of California at Davis. Hector, Derick and Andrea were colleagues at the AB540 & Undocumented Student Center, where they worked on establishing the first holistic student center in the country focused on supporting undocumented students, their families and the regional communities of Yolo, Solano and Sacramento counties. Through the work at the Center, and their collective lived experiences, the need for reliable, responsive and respectful training and education that emphasized the unique needs of the undocumented and immigrant communities became apparent.

ImmPower was born from a shared passion to continue empowering our communities by helping educators and leaders learn more about the immigrant experience.

Our Team

Hector Gamero

Hector Eduardo Gamero Jauregui was born in Mexico and came to the United States at a young age. Adjusting to the English language, the US academic system and US society was difficult as an immigrant, especially as an undocumented person. Despite the lack of resources for him and other undocumented students at that time, he was accepted to UC Davis majoring in Engineering, and went on to graduate with two Bachelor Degrees in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in 2006, continued to Graduate School to obtain his Masters in Mechatronics in 2010, and his PhD in Mechatronics in 2020 from the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department.

During his graduate work, Gamero Jauregui had the opportunity to be a staff member at the UC Davis AB540 & Undocumented Student Center as the Education and Training Coordinator for four and a half years. Gamero Jauregui currently is a DACA recipient and currently uses this new privilege as an Adjunct Professor in Engineering at Sacramento City College hoping to inspire other undocumented students, and students of color, to pursue Engineering in higher education

Areas of Expertise

  • Ally Training
  • Programmatic Evaluation
  • Legal Information/ KYR
  • K-12 Support
  • Keynote Addresses
  • Train the Trainers

Educational Background

  • Ph. D Mechanical Engineering, UC Davis
  • M.S., Mechanical Engineering, UC Davis
  • B.S., Electrical Engineering, UC Davis
  • B.S., Mechanical Engineering, UC Davis

Andrea Gaytan

Andrea Gaytan possesses over twenty years of teaching, student advising and advocacy experience working with underrepresented and under-served student populations. She earned a Master’s degree from the School for International Training in Brattleboro, Vermont in Teaching, with an emphasis in English as a Second Language with a Bilingual, Multicultural Endorsement. Gaytan has taught in Japan, Mexico, and within several regions in the U.S. working primarily with Spanish-speaking, recently arrived immigrant communities. This work eventually led to a position in Student Affairs at her undergraduate alma mater, UC Davis, where she oversaw social justice co-curricular programming and four major university annual events.

In 2014, Gaytan was selected to lead the creation of the UC Davis AB540 & Undocumented Student Center, one of the first undocumented student centers in the nation. The Center became a safe space for immigrant students, their families and the community at large, and was at the forefront of a statewide movement to provide equitable education access and resources to undocumented individuals. Andrea led the Center over four years, seeing a 500% growth in the undocumented student population at UC Davis.

Gaytan currently serves as a Dean of a community college outreach center where she maintains a holistic, student-centered approach to higher education administration, which includes prioritizing students’ basic needs, as well as supporting their academic and career development.

Areas of Expertise

  • Ally Training
  • Programmatic Evaluation
  • K-12 Support
  • Community College Support
  • Establishing ‘Dreamer’ Resource Centers
  • Train the Trainers

Educational Background

  • Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T), School for International Training
  • Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, UC Davis

Derick Romero

Derick Romero is a co-founder of Immpower.org. He was born in Oaxaca, Mexico and migrated to the U.S at the age of 3 years old with his family due to scarce resources. He is a first generation college student that identifies as a DACAmented. Given Derick’s status as a DACAmented student, he first hand experienced the difficulties and barriers the undocumented/immigrant community face in higher education. While completing his undergraduate degree, Derick developed a deep passion to help and empower the undocumented/immigrant community by advocating and educating others on invaluable resources to succeed in higher education. Even with all the barriers put in front of him due to his DACAmented status, he successfully transferred from Modesto Jr. College to UC Davis for his B.A. and has attained an MBA from UC Riverside. Derick is currently an Operations Area Manager for Amazon.com.

Areas of Expertise

  • Ally Training
  • Legal Information
  • K-12 Support
  • Community College Support
  • Keynote Addresses
  • Train the Trainers

Educational Background

    • Master of Business Administration , UC Riverside
      • The A. Gary Anderson Graduate School of Management
        (First undocumented student)
    • B.A Chicana/o Studies, UC Davis
    • A.S Business Administration, Modesto Jr. College
    • UCLA Anderson School of Management- Executive Education EDGE Certificate of Business Management