The Albino R. Pineda Scholarship Program was endowed in 1999 in honor of Mr. Pineda, author of Among the Repatriated: Autobiography of a Mexican American, and an active member of the Santa Paula community. Mr. Pineda championed the installation of a farmworker monument in Santa Paula with sculptures honoring those who have contributed significantly to the local and state economies through their work as farmworkers. Mr. Pineda was born in Phoenix, Arizona, and grew up among the repatriated in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico. In 1942, he set down roots in Santa Paula, California.

The endowment was funded privately by Mr. Pineda’s daughter, Patricia Salas Pineda, who grew up in Santa Paula and attended Santa Paula High School. Prior to retiring in 2016, Ms. Pineda was Group Vice President of the Hispanic Business Strategy Group at Toyota Motor North America, Inc. and was the highest-ranking Hispanic executive at Toyota. She served on the board of the Hispanic Scholarship Fund from 1995 to 2000.