wHO WE ARE

Campus Compass is a student-parent circle dedicated to sharing resources and information to help student-parents succeed in college. Our programming includes free online virtual workshops, peer-to-peer mentoring, and the amplification of resources.

We are dedicated to developing a resource directory organized by Minnesota regions with the hopes of partnering with Student Parent Coordinators at all Minnesota colleges to share this information.

We are also working on a Campus assessment that will provide information on the resources campuses already offer to student parents and identify growth opportunities to further support our student-parent population.

Click through our Program Goals below to learn more about our mission.

“A future where resources are easy to find, support is proactive, and success is shared through connection, care, and opportunity to help support two generations at a time.”
— Vision Statement, Karina Villeda

  • Providing parents with information about federal, state, county, city, non-profit, NGO’s, and community resources. These resources can help them succeed in college and beyond. They include, but are not limited to, financial aid, transferring to 4-year universities, scholarship strategies, childcare help, basic needs, mental health, access to children's enrichment resources, and the secrets of higher education.

  • There’s a well-known saying that if you give someone a fish, they’ll eat for a day, but if you teach them to fish, they’ll eat for a lifetime. We believe in doing both. We do this by teaching how to find resources and providing resources through our workshops, website (AI-powered resource database, blogs, & toolkits), newsletters & emails.

  • Our community is created by student-parents, for student-parents. We pool our knowledge and resources and connect students with people who understand what they’re going through, particularly through our Scholars Program and our free online virtual workshops—Student Parent Circle—with future goals of creating Student Parent Clubs and Family Friendly Events.

sTUDENT-PARENT SCHOLARS PROGRAM

At Campus Compass, we recognize that even the most streamlined and user-friendly databases can be overwhelming for student-parents, and resources constantly change. That’s why we launched the Student Parent Scholars Program. The program provides 1-on-1 peer mentorship through the CARA model.

Our scholars are expected to attend all of our FREE virtual workshops, and afterward, their navigator assists them in acquiring resources related to those workshops. Each workshop concludes with gift card raffles, where each scholar’s chance to win increases based on engagement.

Navigators also help scholars find and access additional resources needed to achieve their goals through scholarships, personal/career development, and opportunities for their children. Upon completing 75% of the program, the scholar is granted a scholarship!

GET PAID TO GET PAID

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GET PAID TO GET PAID 〰️

karina villeda

POLICY & PROGRAM DIRECTOR

Karina grew up in the Twin Cities and is a proud University of Minnesota graduate, a mother, and a child of Salvadoran parents. Her passion lies in addressing inequities in her community and expanding access to higher education for marginalized and underrepresented populations. She believes in the greater good we can offer each other when equity is at the center of helping everyone around us succeed. She is an aspiring lawyer and, over the last four years, has worked on many higher education initiatives at the state and federal levels.

Her work includes helping pass the North Star Promise, increasing the Pell Grant, and allocating funds for mental health and basic needs at Minnesota colleges and universities. She is currently the program director of Campus Compass, where she helps student parents understand the tips and resources they can use to succeed in college and graduate with little debt. Through her work, she is committed to ensuring individuals not only have access to higher education but are supported in fully realizing its transformative potential.

Scroll down further to get introduced to our team of dedicated Student Parent Navigators!

MEET THE NAVIGATORS

  • Claudia - Law & Engineering

    STUDENT PARENT NAVIGATOR

    Claudia Murillo (she/her) is a Mexican-American, first-generation law student. She was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, where she attended the University of Southern California for both her undergraduate and graduate studies. After several years working in the corporate world, Claudia decided to make a change and relocated to Mexico City. There, she and her husband focused on raising bicultural, bilingual children while she worked remotely as a consultant in the medical device software field.

    Claudia holds a B.S. in biomedical engineering and an M.S. in chemical engineering. She is currently a first-year law student at Mitchell Hamline School of Law, where she is focusing on intellectual property law. Her interest in becoming a lawyer stemmed from her desire to better support innovation and emerging technologies, as well as her long-standing frustration with the lack of diversity in the technology industry. She is especially passionate about encouraging and supporting individuals from underrepresented communities to pursue and advance into leadership roles within technology and related fields.

    She currently lives in St. Paul, Minnesota with her husband and their three children, ages 11, 4, and 2.

  • Joc - Master's & Business Owner

    STUDENT PARENT NAVIGATOR

    “I AM A COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT & AFFORDABLE HOUSING PROFESSIONAL, MOTHER, CARETAKER, BUSINESS OWNER, MENTOR, & FIRST GEN COLLEGE GRAD. IM WAS BORN & RAISED IN MILWAUKEE WI, WHERE I EARNED MY UNDERGRAD DEGREE IN BUSINESS. I RELOCATED TO THE TWIN CITIES IN 2017, & I HONESTLY LOVE LIVING HERE. I EARNED MY MASTER’S DEGREE, DECEMBER 2024, FROM CONCORDIA UNIVERSITY.

    COMMUNITY, REPRESENTATION, & LEGACY ARE PRIORITY TO ME. SO I AM DELIGHTED TO BE INCLUDED IN THIS JOURNEY WITH YOU!”

  • Marisela - Tech

    STUDENT PARENT NAVIGATOR

    “This is Marisela, I am a 30-year-old student at Century College. I attended Normandale community college right out of high school, but I dropped out shortly after starting. I wasn’t motivated in the field I was studying, and I wasn’t managing things correctly. I had always considered going back but I knew that when I decided to go back, I needed to make sure I was committed and going to see it through. About a year ago I became a single mom of two girls (1yo & 3yo). I knew I needed to do something different for us, so that I could provide for them. And a few months after losing everything I came across the Jeremiah program. Through their empowerment and leadership classes and overall coaching and encouragement I was inspired to go back to school. Even though this time around it is more difficult going back to school as a parent, it has been easier in a way because I am motivated by my kids and I feel empowered by knowing about the resources out there to help. It takes a village and I am thankful for the people and the resources I have met along the way. I am inspired to be able to help others along the way as well.”

  • Maurela - Psychology

    STUDENT PARENT NAVIGATOR

    “My name is Maurela Miller. I am a 27-year-old, mom of two who current attends Winona State University. I am going to school to obtain my degree in Psychology, with long term goals of going to Graduate school and doing research in neuroscience. I am recently married, and love everything family oriented. With travels, day trips, and every family movie night in between, I am helping people from running fundraisers, to supplying resources, and most importantly advocacy. I love to learn and strive every day to learn something further.”

  • Miah - Pre-Med

    STUDENT PARENT NAVIGATOR

    Miah Moore, originally from Southeast Louisiana, is a mother, artist, and student at Normandale Community College in Bloomington, MN. Both her lived experience as a student-parent and professional experience as a student-parent navigator with Campus Compass have provided firsthand insight into the challenges of balancing caregiving, academics, and access to resources within systems that are not always designed with families in mind. She aspires to blend her artistic talents and academic interests to be a public advocate who challenges systems, amplifies the unheard, and relentlessly pushes the world toward meaningful change. 

  • Nicole - Management

    STUDENT PARENT NAVIGATOR

    Nicole is a single mom of two wonderful kids. First is her son Kalani who is 10 and then

    She has a daughter, RaeLyne, who is 3 going on 21. Nicole lives in Fargo where she was born and raised. She did spend about 10 years on the East Coast, mainly DC, MD, and VA before coming back to Fargo to have kids and go to school.

    This past spring she earned her Associates Degree In Business Management, Sales, and Marketing with a certificate in Human Resources. She graduated from Minnesota State Community and Technical College. After taking the summer off for some much-needed family time she decided to go back to school to get her Bachelor’s Degree in Project Management. Nicole has had many experiences in life including addiction, recovery, domestic violence survivor, child advocacy, missionary work through local church, Free Through Recovery graduate, Jeremiah Program Alumni. It wasn’t until getting involved with Jeremiah Program and becoming a peer navigator though this program that she found what she wants to do in life.

  • Shanice - Leadership (HR)

    STUDENT PARENT NAVIGATOR

    “I am a single mother, first-generation to both the US and in college, and full-time employee taking a full-time course load split between Minneapolis College, where I am pursuing an Associate of Science in Human Services, and Minnesota West through a Community Health Worker certification program. All of my coursework has been completed online to balance work, parenting, and course responsibilities. After earning my A.S. in Human Services, I plan to continue directly into a Bachelor’s degree in Human Services with a focus on Administration and Leadership, along with a minor in Criminal Justice. I am passionate about supporting student parents and helping others navigate the challenges of balancing the aspects of our world.”