CITY OF FRESNO
___________________________________________ __________________________________________ JERRY P. DYER, Honorable Mayor TYLER MAXWELL, Council Vice President ____________________________________________ __________________________________________ NELSON ESPARZA, Council President ANNALISA PEREA, Councilmember, District 1
____________________________________________ __________________________________________ MIKE KARBASSI, Councilmember, District 2 MIGUEL ARIAS, Councilmember, District 3
____________________________________________ __________________________________________ BRANDON VANG, Councilmember, District 5 NICK RICHARDSON, Councilmember, District 6
Office of Council Vice President Tyler Maxwell
Hereby Recognizes:
Dr. Katherine Flores
WHEREAS, throughout her extraordinary career, Dr. Katherine Flores, guided by a profound love for the community that raised her, has served as a pioneering physician, visionary educator, and dedicated champion for the health and wellness of the Central Valley; and
WHEREAS, born in Fresno into a family of migrant farmworkers, Dr. Flores worked alongside her family in the fields and orchards from early childhood, witnessing firsthand how limited access to care cou ld affect families like hers. This inspired her lifelong commitment to service and to helping others receive higher- quality, more compassionate care; and
WHEREAS, after graduating from Stanford University and the UC Davis School of Medicine, Dr. Flores returned to Fresno and, through her bilingual family medicine practice, provided care and healing rooted in respect and cultural understanding, becoming known for the kindness, professionalism, and fierce advocacy that made her patients finally feel heard; and
WHEREAS, believing that the future of healthcare should reflect the people it serves, Dr. Flores also devoted her career to cultivating a more diverse, culturally responsive medical workforce for the Central Valley; and
WHEREAS, as an Associate Clinical Professor at the UCSF School of Medicine, Assistant Dean of the UCSF Fresno Medical Education Program, and Director of the UCSF Fresno Latino Center for Medical Education and Research, Dr. Flores expanded access to medical education for students historically underrepresented in medicine, transforming opportunity into real generational change; and
WHEREAS, drawing upon her own experiences, Dr. Flores established the Junior Doctors Academy and Doctors Academy for local students , programs that provide mentorship and academic preparation to prepare young people to pursue careers in healthcare and one day serve communities like their own; and
WHEREAS, Dr. Flores carried the Central Valley’s voice into state and national efforts to further diversify medicine, helping establish the National Hispanic Medical Association, co -founding the California Health Professions Consortium , and serving in advisory roles, including her appointment by Governor Brown to the California Healthcare Workforce Policy Commission, using her community experience to champion change in health policy; and
WHEREAS, for her work addressing inequalities in educational opportunity and access to care for Central Valley students and residents, Dr. Flores received the 2010 James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award; and
WHEREAS, as Dr. Flores begins her well-earned retirement, the City of Fresno celebrates the living legacy she has created through every patient and family she cared for, every student she inspired, and every pathway she built for those who will follow in her footsteps . With profound gratitude, we honor Dr. Flores for a trailblazing career spent caring for and advocating for the people of the Central Valley.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that we, Mayor Jerry P. Dyer, and the Fresno City Council, do hereby proclaim Thursday, September 3, 2026, as:
“Dr. Katherine Flores Day”
in the City of Fresno
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, we have hereunto set our hands and affixed the Great Seal of the City of Fresno, California, this 3
rd
day of September of the Year Two Thousand and Twenty-Six.