Community Engagement
Oscar G. Armijo CPA Latino Leadership Awards
Since 1999, Oscar and Luisa Armijo have awarded over 225 annual scholarships to college bound high school seniors from migrant, disadvantaged and underserved communities in the Coachella Valley. Oscar, an immigrant from Mexico and Luisa, who was raised in the impoverished barrios of Los Angeles, both understand the importance of education as a catalyst for their own professional careers and are committed to passing this value by offering financial support via their business scholarship fund. They established the Oscar G. Armijo CPA Latino Leadership Scholarship Award in 1999 at Palm Desert High School where all their 4 children graduated. The Award is in honor of the fortitude and giving spirit of the Armijo’s, with the first Award granted to the ASB president at the time. This Award at Palm Desert High began with the selection of seniors who merit recognition for their hard work in pursuit of higher education especially to 4-year institutions. Today, this recognition has expanded awarding a multitude of scholarships for outstanding merit in academic performance, community involvement and proven leadership skills.
This Award seeks to acknowledge students who have overcome many of life’s challenges throughout their years of high school but kept and nurtured a deep sense of social responsibility by volunteering in community events or leading service projects. These students are recognized for touching people’s lives to provide a needed service. Over the last 12 years, the Oscar G. Armijo CPA Latino Leadership Award includes seniors from across the Coachella Valley who will attend UC Berkeley where all 4 of their children have graduated. These recipients also display the attributes of hard work and a selfless spirit to help others. In addition to their scholarship fund, the Armijo’s also have provided dorm room or school materials along with career mentoring assistance and educational networking opportunities. The office proudly displays the photos of the many students who have been recognized over the course of 25 years by the Oscar G. Armijo CPA Latino Leadership Award.
Cal Bears In The Desert
In 2000, Oscar and Luisa’s oldest daughter began her freshman year at U.C. Berkeley (Cal) and in 2014 their youngest son became the last of their four children to graduate from Cal, becoming the only family to achieve this historic feat. In the 14 years that their children attended Cal, Oscar and Luisa who are both graduates from the University of Southern California (USC), became converted Cal Bears and active members of the Cal family through their involvement with the university’s parent and alumni foundations. This began a desire in the Armijo family to give back to the University that had given them so much and to create the opportunity for other families to experience all qualities of one of the most prestigious public universities in the world.
The Armijo family began Cal Bears in the Desert as a university-chartered alumni club to educate prospective students across the Coachella Valley from low-income and minority backgrounds about U.C. Berkeley and the importance of higher education. Cal Bears in the Desert has since transformed into the 501(c)3 nonprofit organization it is today and continues to focus on outreach to students as well as providing scholarships and educational support services. For more information please visit calbearsinthedesert.org.
2023-2024 Board Members: https://calbearsinthedesert.org/2023-2024-board-members/
Berkley News article: Couple builds bridge to Berkeley for Coachella Valley’s brightest, neediest youth
Luisa M. Armijo, MSW
Luisaa@armijoandassociates.com
Advisor & Founder
Cal Bears in the Desert
Luisa M Armijo has a Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) & Master of Social Work (MSW) from the University of Southern California. She brings over 48 years of experience as a social worker in community organization and strategic planning, as an educator, as a Tribal librarian developing multi-cultural programs for underrepresented youth. She brought her expertise as a career/college advisor to design pre-collegiate programs for Native-American, migrant, first generation youth assisting Coachella Valley schools in curriculum development, career counseling, book drives, fundraising, grant-writing and as a literacy advocate. Luisa has served on numerous District and City Advisory Boards as an avid school volunteer and a Director of a Children’s Ministry for the Palm Desert Vineyard. All of Luisa’s four children graduated from UC Berkeley where she went on to serve on the CAL Parents Board for 14 years. She along with her husband Oscar have received numerous recognitions at Berkeley to include the Trustee’s Citation Award. For over 26 years they provide scholarships at Palm Desert High School expanding into the eastern Coachella Valley and now throughout the desert under the Armijo Leadership Fund. Through this Fund, Luisa offers mentoring with college networking adding a dorm room essentials and a study materials scholarship fund. Luisa has supported her husband Oscar in the establishment of this CPA accounting firm where she oversees their philanthropic programs.
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Today she is known as Mama Bear, the organizing force of the chartered Cal Bears in the Desert Alumni group that began 10 years ago and expanded into a nonprofit entity for educational services to underserved youth across the desert. She works closely with the Berkeley in campus Equity and Inclusion initiatives to provide a local yield reception, a summer sendoff, a high school drop in outreach, a bilingual Parent College Toolbox seminar, a Fall Dinner on campus, Spend a Day with a CAL Professor and advocacy for the expansion of Experience Berkeley student outreach. She also began Bears at the Palm Springs International Film Festival with alumni fundraising social activities. During the Covid years, she designed local ZOOM events for CAL. She frequents the Berkeley area where the family has a second home. Luisa has numerous travels to South America in the Amazonian jungles to support their son Oscar’s nonprofit Adelante Bolivia on the Board and in philanthropic ventures. Luisa maintains her advisory role with CAL Bears in the Desert Alumni Board. Her leadership in the nonprofit expands a donor network to produce a resource guide among the over 200 scholars she has mentored. She continues to travel to New Mexico to maintain native roots. Now a grandma, Luisa finds herself back in full circle with educating her grandchildren.
Adelante Bolivia
Firm manager, Oscar R. Armijo, worked and live in South America for many years, settling in the majestic and enchanting country of Bolivia. In Bolivia, Oscar worked for several nonprofit organizations, providing financial and educational support services to the country’s majority indigenous populations. Oscar would later go on to establish a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Adelante Bolivia, to continue his work supporting Bolivia’s poor and disadvantaged indigenous communities. Armijo and Associates has been a proud, active supporter of Adelante Bolivia since its inception. For more information please visit adelantebolivia.org.
Community Outreach & Support
The Armijo family have dedicated their lives to the ongoing fight for social justice in their communities both locally and internationally. Armijo and Associates echoes this mission, having sponsored and supported countless charities, church ministries, nonprofit organizations, universities, and social campaigns and movements throughout the over 30-year history of the firm.
