Ernest Cisneros
Youth Mental Health Advocate; Freshman, California State University, San Marcos
Ernest Cisneros is a freshman at California State University, San Marcos, pursuing a social sciences degree. A mental health advocate for four years as a student at Colton High School in Colton, CA, Cisneros spearheaded the creation and building of the high school’s and school district’s first student wellness center. He also created an official TEDx event themed around mental health, with speakers including himself and other students and staff from Colton High. In 2020, Cisneros formed a student Wellness Club focused on bringing positivity into the high school, which hosted a Wellness Fair attended by more than 2,000 students from three schools. His latest initiative, OneSimpleQuestion.org, fights the stigmas surrounding mental health.