Staff
Francisco ‘Kiko’ Trujillo
Executive Director & Co-Founder of ARSOBO
Kiko is a lifetime resident of the border town of Nogales and recently acquired permanent resident status in the U.S. He has a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from El Instituto Tecnologico de Nogales, worked for fifteen years for three US Companies in Mexico under the Maquiladora Program, and was the former director of the Nogales Sonora Chamber of Commerce. In the last twenty-plus years, he worked with three nonprofit organizations including: Borderlinks, ARAN, and the last ten years as the co-founder and director of ARSOBO Projects for Inclusion Operating in Nogales, Mexico.
Santana Arrendondo Diaz
Orsthoses Technician
Santana is a lifetime resident of Mexico, originally from Sinaloa who came to Nogales to work for Arsobo six years ago, in January of 2017. He is the father to five children, all girls, who currently live in Hermosillo. He decided to join the team when he realized the difficulty of getting a job when confined to a wheelchair and is determined to help others with disabilities, just like him. Currently, he works on orthoses and canes here at Arsobo in Nogales, Sonora.
Javier Magdaleno
Prosthetics Technician
Javier is a lifetime resident of Mexico and joined the Arsobo team ten years ago in 2013, constructing prosthetics. He attended university in the pursuit of becoming an industrial engineer. His life was interrupted when in 2011 the doctors discovered a tumor in his quad and they needed to amputate his leg. Despite that setback, he finished his studies with the title he went to pursue. He met Arsobo in 2012 while looking for a new prosthetic, after his first one fell apart in only 3 months, and absolutely fell in love with the mission. He promised Francisco he would pay him back for the prosthetic in the form of labor, and ever since then has worked with Arsobo, now no longer as a debt he needed to pay, but to do for someone else what Arsobo did for him.
Marcela Mercado
Administration
Marcela is a lifetime resident of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico and joined the team two years ago, in August 2021, as an administrative assistant. She heard of Arsobo through Fransisco, who she used to work with years back, as his assistant as well. She decided to join the team because of how much she liked the cause and the opportunity to work with him again.
Gabriel Zepeda
Wheelchair Technican
Gabriel has been a crucial part of Arsobo since the beginning, 13 years ago when it was created in 2009. The University of Arizona contacted him along with Francisco to ask for his help with this project they wanted to create to ensure that everyone has as many opportunities as they can, no matter the disability they may face. He previously worked in a workshop teaching people how to make wheelchairs in the US, but he moved back to Mexico due to the dire need for help here. Now, he works in Arsobo in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, developing wheelchairs and teaching others to do the same.
Carmen Yolanda Terrazas
Administration
Carmen was born and raised in Sonora, Mexico, having done a world of traveling in her lifetime and studied forest entomology. She decided to join the team at Arsobo nine years ago as a volunteer after Francisco, someone she had worked with for years, encouraged her to come down and see the work done here. Once she arrived, she fell in love with how much this organization gives to the community and how familial the community of workers here at Arsobo quickly became. She recognizes the importance of the work here and hopes to never leave.
Federico Gomez
Wheelchair Technician
Federico raised his family of three children in Nayarit, Mexico, helping them financially by doing welding jobs that his Uncle taught him to do. This was before he suffered an accident that required him to have a prosthesis a few years ago. He met Arsobo when he came for his own prosthesis, and stayed when he discovered that he loved the work they do, and how they help people in need.
Raymundo Duarte
Wheelchair Technician
Raymundo is a lifetime resident of Nogales, Sonora, Mexico where he is the father to three children. Before the pandemic he worked as a concrete worker and welder, a job his dad taught him to do, though that work proved to be incredibly unstable. He joined the team at Arsobo three years ago in 2020, while the pandemic was at its all time high and jobs were lost easily. Now, he has a stable job at Arsobo as a machinist, helping those who need it most.
Pablo Valenzuela Hernandez
Hearing Aid Tecnician
Pablo was born and raised in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. He has been working in Arsobo for eight years as a hearing aid technician, and it all started because he attended an event with his sister, who is deaf. At this event, he learned of what Arsobo’s mission was and how they worked to ensure they complete it and decided that he would love to join the team and be a part of the work that was done here.