The CONNECT/CONECTADOS Project is a community-engaged research initiative led by researchers from UC Merced, UC Santa Cruz, and UC San Francisco. This project is dedicated to studying the advantages of Indigenous social networks, specifically emphasizing cross-tribal and cross-border connections, in promoting health and well-being within Indigenous communities living in California. One of the project’s main focal points is testing health communication interventions designed to leverage the strengths of Indigenous social networks.
Project Development and Goals
Indigenous communities have long relied on social networks for various aspects of their lives, including sharing cultural knowledge, providing emotional support, and accessing resources. These networks often extend beyond tribal and national borders, forming connections that contribute significantly to the resilience and strength of Indigenous communities. The CONNECT/CONECTADOS Project seeks to understand how these social connections can play an important role in enhancing health outcomes by developing a survey and sharing through Facebook and other social media outlets, by conducting interviews and a focus group to receive community input in their own words and ultimately developing vaccination intervention videos promoting seasonal vaccination in Indigenous communities.
California’s Indigenous communities have strong social networks, spanning state, tribal/community, and international borders, which may play a significant role in health-related perceptions and behaviors. To gain a clearer understanding of the role of social networks and vaccine-related decision making among these communities, we are working with an Indigenous Community Advisory Board (I-CAB) comprising representatives from diverse Indigenous communities of North America and Mesoamerica now residing in California. Guided by the I-CAB, our project researchers are working to develop, implement, and evaluate a health communication intervention aimed at increasing vaccine confidence. Our team includes a training component for both undergraduate and graduate students interested in community-engaged health research, with a strong focus on Indigenous students. Through these partnerships, our multifaceted approach seeks to enhance health outcomes by fostering an inclusive and capacity-building research community.
“El Proyecto CONNECT/CONECTADOS es una colaboración fundamental para escuchar la voz de las comunidades Indígenas.
“The CONNECT/CONECTADOS Project is a fundamental collaboration that listens to the voices of Indigenous communities”
– Maria “Conchita” Pozar, Indigenous Community Advisory Board Member
Indigenous Community Advisory Board
The community partnerships were formed by leveraging existing personal networks of the research team as well as reaching out to new organizations serving Native and Indigenous migrant communities in California. We did targeted outreach to these organizations, formed connections with organizational members, and invited partnership via a clearly-defined I-CAB member role. Our research team met individually with those that were interested in being a part of the advisory board and we discussed the roles, responsibilities, compensation and overall vision of the project as well as what we envision the advisory board.
The I-CAB consists of individuals from organizations working in Indigenous communities throughout California. The group meets quarterly with researchers with one in-person convenings yearly at a rotating UC campus. Below is a list of the members and organizations.
- California Rural Indian Health Board, Inc. (CRIHB) and California Rural Indian Health Board Inc. IRB – committed to the needs and interests that elevate and promote the health status and social conditions of the Indian people of California. CRIHB does this by providing advocacy, shared resources, training, and technical assistance that enhances the delivery of quality comprehensive health-related services. Kathleen Jack has been involved since the start of the I-CAB in 2023.
- CDR Carolyn Pumares – Pharmacist affiliated with Indian Health Services (IHS) that was involved in the I-CAB from 2023–2025.
- Conchita Servicios a la Comunidad – Purépecha community leader working in the Coachella Valley with a focus on health access and education. Maria “Conchita” Pozar has been involved since the start of the I-CAB in 2023.
- Comunidades Indigenas en Liderazgo (CIELO) – an Indigenous women-led non-profit organization that works jointly with Indigenous communities residing in Los Angeles. Odilia Romero and Luis López Reséndiz have been involved in the I-CAB since 2024.
- Dr. Julisa Lopez – has been involved in the I-CAB since 2024 and is a member of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band.
- Mujeres Unidas Y Activas (MUA) – an organization of Latina and Indigenous immigrant women with the mission to grow our personal and community power to achieve social and economic justice in the San Francisco Bay Area. Martha Sanchez has been involved since the start of the I-CAB in 2023.
- Senderos – multi-service nonprofit creating pathways to success and building community by sharing Latino and Oaxacan culture through cultural arts and by fostering educational opportunities throughout Santa Cruz County. Fe Silva-Robles has been involved in the I-CAB since 2024.
“The CONNECT/CONECTADOS Project showed me what it was like to be a part of a community-engaged research project, and let me put my creative skills to work on an issue that I cared about.”
– Kennedy Thomas, UCSC Undergraduate Research Assistant
Student Involvement
The project included undergraduate Indigenous Research Summer Fellowship each year as well as Undergraduate Research Assistants. The summer fellowship was a part-time, 8 week fellowship in which fellows would contribute to research project planning and implementation. Each fellow would have various tasks that could include video/video editing, research and community outreach. They would also receive mentorship from faculty, graduate students, and community partners as part of the fellowship. The Undergraduate Research Assistants have more of a hands-on, day-to-day role in the project and contributed in various ways in research as well as administrative duties and communication with our I-CAB, university staff and community outreach.
Project Phases
The project itself unfolded in multiple phases since its inception. The team first developed an online survey administered through Facebook where we asked participants who they were receiving their trusted health information and communication through their social networks. We followed the online survey with focus groups, one in-person in the Purépecha language, one online in Spanish as well as two online in English with various Indigenous communities living throughout California. All of the information that was gathered through the online survey and focus groups was then utilized to develop vaccination intervention videos that were distributed during the fall of 2025 through our I-CAB networks to help encourage seasonal vaccinations. All of our work was guided by our I-CAB to ensure we were asking the appropriate and relevant questions and procedures that would resonate with Indigenous communities.
UC Santa Cruz Team
- Dr. Alicia Riley – Associate Professor of Sociology & Core Faculty in Global and Community Health Program
- Darío León – Research and Community Coordinator at the Institute for Social Transformation
- Kennedy Thomas – Undergraduate Research Assistant (2025–2026) and 2025 Indigenous Summer Research Fellow
- Michelle Vega – Undergraduate Research Assistant (2023–2025) and 2025 Indigenous Summer Research Fellow
- Anahi Matias Santiago – 2024 Indigenous Summer Research Fellow and 2024-2025 Building Belonging Undergraduate Intern
- Yuritzi Argueta – 2023 Indigenous Summer Research Fellow
- Alex Galvan – 2023 Indigenous Summer Research Fellow
Please visit our project website to view the full list of project members from UC San Francisco and UC Merced.
“Being a part of the CONNECT/CONECTADOS Project has showed me that multi-language and multi-cultural collaboration and learning can foster amazing outcomes that truly is beneficial to communities.”
Darío León, Research and Community Coordinator
Project Highlights, Future Direction, and Funding
A project highlight was the development of intervention videos promoting seasonal vaccinations that were then translated into Spanish and Purépecha and shared through our I-CAB networks as well as social media platforms. We are in the process of translating into other Indigenous languages such as Mixteco, Zapoteco, and Mam. Another project highlight was our Conectados en el Bienestar: Conversations on Indigenous Health event on October 12, 2024 at UC Santa Cruz. The event were lighting talks focused on Indigenous social networks and health in California that brought together researchers, students, community leaders, and members of the public to talk about the role of social networks in Indigenous communities in California and their impact in decisions about health. The lighting talks were broken up into two groups (in English and Spanish) focused on paths to Indigenous community leadership, the importance of social networks among Native American and Indigenous migrant communities, and learnings from the pandemic and beyond.
We have shared our initial results from the qualitative analysis of focus group data in a poster that UCSC staff member, Darío Leon presented at the American Public Health Association (APHA) Conference in Washington DC in November, 2025. We have translated the videos into Purépecha and are in the process of translating into other Indigenous languages such as Mixteco, Zapoteco, and Mam. There are also various manuscripts and reports being currently developed and hopefully published in the near future.
This project was funded by the University of California Multicampus Research Programs and Initiatives (MRPI), the UCSF California Collaborative for Public Health Research (CPR3), as well as support from the Institute for Social Transformation Building Belonging Program.
Project Links
- CONNECT/CONECTADOS Project Website
- Conectados en el Bienestar: Conversations on Indigenous Health Event Website
- Purépecha, Spanish and English Intervention Videos
Questions? Contact Dr. Alicia Riley or the CONNECT/CONECTADOS Project email.