My Mission

I'm a bridge builder between diverse fields and topics and a translator between ideas and people. I've spent over a decade in the nonprofit sector developing and managing programs, producing community journalism and multimedia, and advocating for policy change. I'm also an entrepreneur running two online education businesses: one helping underrepresented candidates apply to grad school and the other focused on personal effectiveness and knowledge management for teams.

I work to leverage the impact, tools, and resources of the private sector towards the social issues I care about which include racial equity, creating healthy communities for low income people, and youth personal development. My mission is to show that the nonprofit world has much to learn from the world of entrepreneurship, and vice versa. By working at the intersection of public health, urban planning, and entrepreneurship I’m able to innovate and bring powerful solutions together.

Who I am

I grew up between Garden Grove and Wilmington, CA, home to the Port of Los Angeles and the highest concentration of oil refineries in the state. Coming from an environmentally-burdened Latinx community in Los Angeles, I’ve dedicated my work to improving health outcomes & opportunities in low-income communities of color. I started as an environmental justice advocate writing about community health issues for the Wilmington Wire and as a KQED community health correspondent. Since then, I’ve worked on translating wonky information on local policies and data into community stories and relatable resources. I believe in using the power of multimedia and online tools for community storytelling, education, and advocacy.

In 2011, I went to Brazil on a Fulbright Research Fellowship to study community participatory methods of improving health outcomes for people who live in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, which inspired me to pursue dual Master’s degrees in City Planning and Public Health at UC Berkeley. This transformative experience inspired me to create an online resource hub & online course for students to diversify who has access to the Fulbright award.

Recently, I worked on launching SPARCC, a community development initiative investing in community health, climate, and improving racial equity outcomes. During this program, I become obsessed with team building and effective management techniques. I’ve now immersed myself fully in organizational effectiveness through my work with Forte Labs, where I lead organizational professional development trainings on team productivity and knowledge management. I’m now dedicated to bridging my nonprofit and private sector work in the pursuit of effectively improving low-income communities’ health outcomes and opportunities through consulting and coaching.

Outside of work, I am an artist living in Long Beach, CA. I oil paint, dance ballet and tap, play the guitar, and sing. I speak Spanish and Portuguese and can get by in Italian. I hope to one day write a sci-fi book on climate disasters and learning from our ancestors.

What I do

I teach online courses and offer a range of services integrating live facilitation, outcome-oriented consulting, and strategic advising, including: