Disneyland Resort has announced the Disney Ambassadors for 2024-2025, Jada Young and Raul Aquino Rojas.
What’s Happening:
- Disneyland Resort is proud to announce the Disney Ambassadors for 2024-2025, Jada Young and Raul Aquino Rojas.
- Jada Young and Raul Aquino Rojas were chosen among hundreds of applicants for the role, which was established in 1965 when Walt Disney chose Julie Reihm Casaletto as the very first Disney Ambassador.
- Nearly 60 years later, the program has grown to include a global team of Ambassadors who represent thousands of cast members around the world and play a key role in bringing the magic of Disney into the community.
- The legacy continues to this day with the historic program welcoming Young and Aquino Rojas as the 50th selection of Disney Ambassadors to represent Disneyland Resort.
- The 2024-2025 Disney Ambassadors were announced during a ceremony at Disneyland park attended by their family and friends, fellow cast members, invited guests and Disney Ambassadors who served before them.
- Young and Aquino Rojas will represent over 34,000 cast members across Disneyland Resort, leading and participating in cast member events, sharing Disney Cast Life stories through social media and representing the resort in media interviews – to name just a few of the duties of this prestigious role.
- Mark Everett King Jr. and Nataly Guzman Garcia, the Disney Ambassadors of Disneyland Resort for 2022-2023, will officially pass the torch to the new team beginning Jan. 1, 2024, following the conclusion of their two-year term.
Meet the new Disney Ambassadors of Disneyland Resort:
Jada Young
- As a native of Long Beach, Calif., Disneyland Resort has always been a huge part of Jada Young’s upbringing. Aside from her early memories of park days with her family, one of her most memorable experiences would be the first time she got to perform with her middle school show choir at the Royal Theater in Fantasyland at Disneyland park.
- She anchors herself with gratitude to her village of family and friends and the sacrifices they made so she could have these opportunities.
- Young’s Disney career began in 2017 at the premier tire shop of Radiator Springs, home to Luigi’s Rollickin’ Roadsters in Cars Land.
- As an attractions cast member, Young’s leaders have supported her development all around the resort.
- Throughout the last six years, she’s held leadership roles such as Core Lead and Trainer in both attractions and Special Event Operations.
- She also worked with the Youth Education Series (Y.E.S.) Program as a facilitator for Disney’s Approach to Leadership and Teamwork.
- After returning from the resort’s closure, she was a part of the opening team of Avengers Campus and helped kick off the Disney100 celebrations as a Disney Media Rep.
- Outside of work, Young cherishes her time spent with family and friends.
- She enjoys film, live entertainment, volunteering in her community as an advocate for youth and spending time near the ocean.
- Young’s application to the Disney Ambassador Program was rooted in her value for servant leadership and her hope to continue Walt’s legacy of creating a place welcome to all.
Raul Aquino Rojas
- Raul Aquino Rojas was born in Zihuatanejo, Mexico and came to the U.S. when he was a year old, and grew up in Lynwood, Calif. Aquino Rojas’ childhood was filled with much laughter watching Winnie the Pooh and many Disney movies, and he visited Disneyland for the first time when he was 7.
- The fond memories he made with his family from that visit stayed with him for many years and kept the magic alive for him.
- In 2019, Aquino Rojas began his Disney career as a Disney PhotoPass Photographer at Disneyland Resort.
- Aquino Rojas currently enjoys leading his cast both within Disney Photo Imaging and Guest Show Operations teams. In his spare time, he enjoys tapping into his creative passions through photography and writing.
- You can often find him on adventures hiking and camping out in nature.
What They’re Saying:
- Jada Young “I’m thrilled to be a Disney Ambassador to represent our cast members across the resort and have the opportunity to show up as something bigger than myself.”
- Raul Aquino Rojas: “It’s an honor to be part of the ongoing legacy of the Disneyland Resort and join the historic Disney Ambassador program.”
- Ken Potrock, Disneyland Resort President: “A huge congratulations to Jada and Raul. They will do an amazing job representing our cast members and engaging our community. I can’t wait to get to work with them on so many exciting projects over the next two years – Walt’s Ambassador program is in incredible hands.”
- Mark Everett King Jr., Current Ambassador: “My time as a Disney Ambassador has been so rewarding. From the memories I created with fellow cast members and the legacy that Nataly and I have left on the resort… I am departing this role feeling fulfilled and accomplished.”
- Nataly Guzman Garcia, Current Ambassador: “It’s surreal how the last few years have gone by so quickly, yet they feel like a lifetime. I am so proud of everything we have accomplished and how much we have been able to grow. We’re just honored we were given this opportunity, especially during the Disney100 Celebration. I can’t wait to see what the next chapter holds for us.”