Success Stories
K-State TRIO Upward Bound Alumnus receives MO-KAN-NE Achievers Award
Aaron Carrillo received the Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska (MO-KAN-NE) Chapter of Educational Opportunity Association 024 MO-KAN-NE Highest Achiever’s Award for his outstanding personal and professional accomplishments. Carrillo was a Kansas State University TRiO Upward Bound scholar from 2012-2016, at the Salina campus. The TRiO Upward Bound program is one of several national TRIO Programs, and K-State TRiO Upward Bound is a reporting unit in Student Belonging and Inclusion under the leadership of Assistant Vice President, Mirta Chavez. Carrillo received the award on April 4, 2024, at the association’s annual conference in Kansas City, MO. Mr. Carrillo was nominated by the director of Upward Bound, Monshonda Booker.
As a scholar in the TRiO Upward Bound program, Carrillo was an outstanding honor student who graduated from Newton High School with Summa Cum Laude in 2016. In addition to Carrillo graduating from high school with honors, he also completed an associate degree in Precision Machining from Hutchinson Community College. As an undergraduate, Carrillo received two prestigious study abroad awards, the Gilman Scholarship and the Freeman Foundation Scholarship, and graduated with a Bachelor of Art in Human Biology and a minor in Anthropology from University of Kansas as well as receiving his master’s in health services administration from the University of Kansas School of Medicine. Carrillo interned and researched undocumented children in Vietnam, and the effects of HIV and AIDS in family’s dynamics while studying abroad.
This experience was a game changer for Carrillo and ignited a fire, and he made it his life’s mission to fight poverty. Carrillo became a volunteer for RESULTS -Raise Your Voice to End Poverty, and credits TRiO Upward Bound for helping him grow his voice and RESULT for helping him find the table to sit at to advocate. Since he became a volunteer, Carrillo has traveled to Washington D.C and advocated for the success of key legislation such as the “Farm Bill” and “The Reach Every Mother and Child Act.” He has had the esteemed honor to serve on the Experts on Poverty, which is a group that helps others learn the power of voice through storytelling.
In addition, Carrillo was interviewed and included in the book Reclaiming Our Democracy by Sam Daley-Harris. Currently, Carrillo has been newly elected to the Grassroots Governing Board, which provides volunteers with a voice. After graduating from graduate school, Carrillo continued his employment at The Hospitals of Providence in El Paso, TX, as an Administrative Fellow, which is the same hospital system where he was born.
Carrillo credits an etiquette course he received during his time in TRIO Upward Bound as his motivation for creating more access for medical services, such as endocrinology and urology. Years later, after this etiquette course, Carrillo is managing Strategic Operations in the Executive Suite at the Hospitals of Providence in El Paso, TX. He manages multimillion dollar contracts and sits at the table with major corporate entities. Carrillo has used this position as a platform to assist high school students with varying disabilities, to receive on-the-job training and guaranteed employment.
In addition, Carrillo manages a medical resident rotation in the “business of medicine,” which teaches our future healthcare providers the ins and outs of their future negotiations and businesses, from an inclusive perspective. Carrillo is shaping the very idea of who is invited to the table by sending invites to people who need to be at the table most. Carrillo believes TRiO Works, whether you use the idea of “opening doors or have a seat at the table.” Moreover, Carrillo has successfully advocated and secured access to medical services for over 6,000 patients, who would not otherwise be afforded the opportunity to receive care.