Charmène Vega … ¡Mama Vega!

A philanthropist, a special needs educator, a business owner, a nutritional coach, an entrepreneur, and a President's Lifetime Achievement Award recipient.

IMG_1785: Charmène “Mama” Vega with her Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award

These are just a few accolades that describe Charmène Vega, also known as Mama Vega, who is the subject of our story to tell this month. 
 
And you, our reader, may wonder why the title is not Mama Vega. Indeed, I played with words and called it Mama Vida, because the nature of her work and passion for life have guided her to build others, to develop others, to create opportunities for others, and, as a result of it, enjoy the satisfaction that helping others brings. 
 
Something I didn’t even mention in the first paragraph is that she’s also a mother and a grandmother. During the last Mother’s Day, she decided to spend her day with her grandson instead of spending it with her daughters. For that day, it just made sense that she created time to continue to guide and empower her grandson. That same day, she took the opportunity to remind him how important it was to keep a tidy room, to make his bed, and to continue to be a kind soul.  
 
Mama Vega gets involved in a lot of projects that have to do with giving back and service. And when I asked her why she would get involved in all these things, she calmly and quickly replied: “Because that is the way I was raised.” It turns out that her father would always tell her and her siblings, when they saw somebody less fortunate, to never judge them, to consider that those unfortunate people could very well be Mama Vega’s family if luck had gone another way. Her dad would stress that in life, events could take an unexpected turn or an unfortunate sequence of events, and misfortune could hit anyone. No one really knew what made that family and those people be in harm’s way, so compassion and grace had to be observed! 
 
These thoughts and comments from her dad developed a sense of compassion and giving in Mama Vega for years to come, and to this day she lives honoring those beliefs. 
 
The name “Mama Vega” was given to her when she was an educator at La Cañada High School. She believed in honest, direct, and productive discipline for her students and others at the high school. She would never send kids who needed to be disciplined to the principal’s office—oh no, no, no, no… she would handle it herself! So, the rumor at the high school was that people would be sent to Mama Vega to be disciplined. One of her employment conditions to the higher-ups at the school was that her phone could dial out automatically anywhere she needed to call. She didn’t want to mail letters that could be intercepted by the students to prevent them from reaching their parents. Instead, she would call the parents directly and have a conversation about their children and the direction she would take to discipline them. This is an example of how invested she was in truly guiding the children and creating a team with the parents to raise better human beings for the future. 
 
When asked about her destinations in life, I almost felt like I was printing a T-shirt for a glamorous boutique of the world: New York, Norway, Boston, Los Angeles, and a few others. 
She was born and raised in New York State: Yonkers, to be specific, which is a suburb of New York City. She was then part of a foreign exchange student program, and that’s what took her to Norway. She then came back to the States to attend Boston University and started her college degree. Life and destiny happened, and she found herself going to the Midwest and eventually landing in Southern California. She opened some businesses along the way; and closed some, too. 
 
As far as her education goes, she completed science coursework and general education requirements toward a pre-medical degree at Boston University. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Special Education from the University of Iowa, and she has a Master of Science in Special Education with honors in the Phi Lambda Theta National Honor Society from Winona State University. 
 
Along the way, during the evolution of her career, she discovered she felt a calling to communicate to people the importance of the quality of living, particularly as it pertained to healthy practices related to food and nutrition. This unleashed her desire to have a platform where she could dedicate herself to coaching people on living a better life—a healthier life. 
 
One of the pinnacles of her career was being the recipient of the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award in December 2024. Here are a few other honors and affiliations she has had throughout her career worth highlighting. Most recently (2025), she was named the Rotarian of the Year by our own Bakersfield Breakfast Rotary. She received a Proclamation by Senator Scott Wilk in 2021. She received the U.S. House of Representatives Certificate of Congressional Recognition in 2019. She also received the Best of Palmdale Award for the Salsa Category in the popular food contest in 2016, and many more. I could fill two more paragraphs on awards, recognitions, publications, board participation, and others. I can candidly say that the one recognition she would like to be remembered by would be the difference she has made in her communities and the inspiration she has provided to others to make a difference. I can almost guarantee you that if there were one thing she would like to be remembered for, it is her involvement in helping a whole community in Africa; supporting the education and nourishment of children who were not only underserved but also abused. This is where she founded the Mama Vega Neema Educational Center in Kenya. 
 
She’s full of projects and continuing her existing journey of empowering people to live a healthier life. You can visit her website at mamavega.com, and you will be just as impressed to see the amount of content that this woman has created. As described on her website, the current mission and vision of her Mama Vega content platform is to empower individuals and communities to live healthier, more vibrant lives through nourishing food, holistic wellness, and purposeful giving. With the intent to promote and build a world where wellness is accessible, flavorful, and rooted in love, education, and community care. 
 
With over 35 years of experience, she blends her background in special education, nutrition, and culinary arts to create lasting change for individuals, businesses, and communities. 
 
A fourth-generation nutritionist, and as we mentioned, now a recipient of the President’s Lifetime Achievement Award, Mama Vega built her enterprise from scratch, fueled by a deep belief in self-reliance and service. 
 
Mama Vega is someone who would not boast or brag about herself or her accomplishments—she would rather let others say what they think. Part of this came from the influence of her dad in her life. Her dad used to love a spiritual song with lyrics that included the verse: 
 “May the works and deeds I’ve done speak for me, 
 May the service and life I’ve lived speak for me.” 
 
Though it takes a strong, driven character to accomplish what she has accomplished, one more song that has been one of her favorites and has fueled her journey is: “I Did It My Way.” 
 
We are lucky to have someone like this in our community. And it is a huge opportunity for us to get inspired and maybe participate in the great movement that she’s leading to improve people’s lives. She has a lot of understanding of human psychology, so she understands how positive acts can turn into inner peace and mental health. It takes acts of kindness toward yourself and others to nurture inner peace for ourselves. 
 
If you see her, please congratulate her on an outstanding career of service. But most importantly, ask her how you can help someone today—and, in turn, help yourself. 
 
¡Salud to Mama Vega!