A trio of Fresno Pacific University alumni were among those honored with EPIC Hero Awards for 2024 by the Fresno Chamber of Commerce at this year’s State of the County event September 25, at Fresno Convention Center.
From the Fresno Chamber of Commerce:
Rachel Baskin (BA ’16)
Public Safety Hero: Deputy District Attorney Rachel Baskin, District Attorney’s Office
In July 2009, Rachel Baskin was a paralegal living in Reedley, California, with her family, navigating the challenges of a contentious divorce. On July 16, Rachel survived a traumatic attack that threatened her life and the lives of her loved ones. Despite severe injuries, Rachel’s resilience and quick thinking saved her family.
Her case was prosecuted by then-Deputy DA Lisa Sondergaard Smittcamp, and in 2012, the attacker was sentenced to 77 years to life. Rachel had always aspired to be a prosecutor, and after the trial, she pursued her dream. She earned her B.A. from Fresno Pacific, her J.D. from San Joaquin College of Law, and passed the California Bar Exam. In September 2021, she was sworn in as a Deputy DA by her former prosecutor and friend, Lisa Smittcamp.
Since then, Rachel has excelled as a prosecutor, serving in various units and currently working on the Felony Trial Team. Her family has healed, and her daughter is thriving in high school, preparing for college to become an Engineering major.
Tim Allison (Teacher Credential ’92)
Community Hero: Tim Allison – Probation, Fresno County Superintendent of Schools
Tim Allison is the history and English instructor for the Alice M. Worsley School at the Juvenile Justice Campus. Tim is dedicated to the youth we serve because he sees his younger self in them. He is grateful for the opportunity to pour into the youth so they can see things from a different perspective and return to their respective communities with a different outlook. Tim has a daily goal of showing the youth how much more they are alike than different, which helps to maintain a harmonious environment. He reported that of all the accolades he has received, there is nothing more meaningful than seeing life change in students. Mr. Allison says that he is “allegedly” retiring in one to two years; however, is open to staying longer because he loves the job that much. He has worked his entire career at Worsley School, serving the incarcerated youth of Fresno County. We appreciate the impact that he continues to make!
Greg Barragan (Career Technical Education ’18)
County Community Hero: Greg Barragan – Probation Fresno County, Superintendent of Schools
Greg Barragan is the welding instructor at the Alice M. Worsley School at the Juvenile Justice Campus (JJC). Greg’s students, incarcerated youth, respect him and the work he does to help them develop job-ready skills as certified welders. He genuinely wants to see each youth do better and give them an opportunity for a career and to earn money while living as law-abiding citizens. He sets goals with each youth to become certified as welders before they are released. Greg knows that transforming youth who have gone down the wrong path takes more than learning a trade. It includes changing their way of thinking and approaching life. Mr. B, as the youth call him, knows all about the life that landed his students at the JJC: gangs, addiction, crime, he did all of this in his youth. He was a gang member when he was 12 years old. In trouble constantly as a teen, he was kicked out of several high schools by the time he was 17. He credits his mother for setting his path straight and steering him into a vocational education welding program at Edison High School. Learning to weld was the difference for him.
In 2019, Mr. B won “Educator of the Year” and approximately 10 of his students attended the ceremony to cheer him on. Assured yet humbled by his role in helping students, Greg offers this analogy of his work: “I’m just a dirty old rag that God is using to clean up some of these lives.”