Community Action Board
Community Partners
Adriana Mendoza, MSW
AARP California
Since 1958 AARP has been a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization with a membership that helps people age 50 and over have independence, choice and control in ways that are beneficial and affordable to them and society as a whole, ways that help people 50 and over improve their lives.
Amy Phillips
Little Tokyo Service Center, Director of Service Programs
Amy Phillips is the Director of Senior Services at the Little Tokyo Service Center, a non-profit social service and community development agency in Los Angeles’s historic Japantown. She has more than 15 years of experience providing services to low-income and elderly clients starting with her roots as a bilingual case manager in the Japanese American community. Over the years, Amy has worked to raise the visibility of needs among immigrant older adults and advocate for greater access to culturally and linguistically appropriate services to meet those needs. Amy oversees a multilingual staff that provides information and referrals, community education, care management, and counseling to older adults and their families throughout Los Angeles County. She also co-chairs the Asian & Pacific Islander Older Adults Task Force, a committee of the Asian Pacific Policy & Planning Council (A3PCON). Amy has a Master of Public Administration from California State University, Northridge and earned her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology from Swarthmore College.
Andrea Garcia, MD MPH
Mayoral Appointee for the Los Angeles County Native American Indian Commission
Director of Community Centered Initiatives, LA County Department of Mental Health
Andrea Garcia is a citizen of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation on her maternal side, and Mexican on her paternal side. Andrea works at the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health where has the privilege of focusing exclusively on the health and wellbeing of the Native American community through her clinical work, larger community initiatives, and through research. As a Mayoral appointee for the Los Angeles City/County Native American Indian Commission, she serves as Chair of the subcommittee on homelessness as well as for the ad hoc Natives in LA COVID-19 Response Working Group. She also has the privilege of serving as Board chairperson for United American Indian Involvement, and Vice Chairperson for We Are Healers. Through all of her work, research, and volunteer endeavors, Andrea is most interested in centering the brilliance and inherent wisdom of Native people in addressing the structural determinants of health.
Learn more about the Los Angeles County Native American Indian Commission
Andrea Jones and Felicia Jones
Healthy African American Families II
HAAF began in October 1992 as a project funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to gather information and ideas about the social, cultural, health and political factors that affect pregnancy outcomes for African American women in Los Angeles. Today, they have expanded their interests to issues that include preterm delivery, mental health, diabetes, asthma, kidney disease, women’s health and a male-involvement project.
Anna "Aziza" Lucas-Wright, MEd
Avalon-Carver Community Center
The Avalon-Carver Community Center has been a multi-service resource to low-income individuals and families in south-central Los Angeles, CA since 1940’s. Its mission is to care for the physical, mental and spiritual needs of individuals and families in south central Los Angeles whose lives have been severely disrupted by the use of alcohol and other addictive substances. It hopes to change the attitudes and negative behaviors of its clients for the purpose of returning them to productive and satisfying roles within the community and, to do this, it offers a full range of direct and supportive services that will holistically address the needs of clients, their families and the community at large.
Barbara Linski
Independent Community Representative
Barbara Linski is a consultant for the Los Angeles City Department of Aging. She's retired from St. Barnabas Senior Services (SBSS) / Hollywood Senior Multipurpose Center.
Carol Lee Thorpe, MBA
Formerly at Independent Living Systems
Independent Living Systems (ILS) is a health-services company that develops, delivers and manages community-based services and nutritional support for millions of America’s Medicaid, Medicare, and dual eligible, and special needs populations. Through its holistic approach, ILS helps individuals balance social and medical services, with an emphasis on delivering compassionate, supportive care as they recover and stabilize through a critical episode, chronic illness or the natural aging process.
Ms. Thorpe received her Master’s in Business Administration from Pepperdine University in 1991. Throughout her career, she has held leadership positions with human service organizations and led the development of innovative healthcare and education programs.
Ms. Thorpe has devoted her career to providing creative leadership to health, social service, and community service initiatives on behalf of vulnerable populations in California.
Cathy Ladd, MSW
Alzheimer's Los Angeles, Chief Program Officer
Alzheimer's Los Angeles provides FREE education and support for people living with Alzheimer’s and other dementias and their caregivers. Founded by concerned community members in 1981, their mission is to improve the lives of local families affected by Alzheimer’s and other dementias by increasing awareness, delivering effective programs and services, providing compassionate support, and advocating for quality care and a cure.Learn More about the Alzheimer's Association
Franco Reyna
National Kidney Foundation, Project Director
Jeff Taylor
HIV & Aging Research Project – Palm Springs in Riverside County (HARPP), Executive Director
Palm Springs, in the Coachella Valley, is a retirement community with the highest prevalence of HIV+ gay men over age 50. In 2013, a small group of interested providers, patients, and caregivers residing in the Coachella Valley came together to form the HIV & Aging Research Project - Palm Springs (HARP-PS), formerly known as the Coachella Valley Community Research Initiative or CVCRI), intended to advance research on HIV and aging. Despite their good intentions, multiple problems exist prohibiting their work, including connecting stakeholders and building research capacity. The University of California, Riverside Center for Healthy Communities (CHC) and HARP-PS are the primary partners for this Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute, Engagement Award.
Learn more about the UC Riverside School of Medicine Center for Health Communities
Laura Trejo, PhD
Los Angeles County Aging and Disabilities Department, Executive Director
The Los Angeles County Aging and Disabilities Department oversees programs and service delivery for older adults and adults with disabilities, including Adult Protective Services (APS), the Area Agency on Aging (AAA), and the County's fourteen Community and Senior Centers.
Learn More About the Los Angeles County Aging and Disabilities Department
Maggie Cervantes
New Economics for Women, Executive Director
Maggie Cervantes is the Executive Director for New Economics for Women (NEW). Her leadership has resulted in significant milestones for NEW including the opening of La Posada and the creation of other housing sites dedicated to helping low-income women and their families become economically independent.
During her tenure, she has leveraged a $96,000 grant for NEW into its existing success as a $60 million economic development corporation. In addition, Cervantes has helped design innovative economic literacy programs targeting Latinas and their families in the areas of consumer rights and homeownership. As a result, NEW has received numerous awards for its unique housing and economic programs.
NEW’s signature programs include operating over 1100 units of affordable, service- enriched family housing (19 units to 119 units) with on-site community amenities including afterschool learning centers, financial education, parent leadership and civic engagement. In addition, NEW has designed, financed and developed community centers. One of the latest endeavors is a Health and Housing approach to community economic development.
Phyllis Willis, MSW
Watts Labor Community Action Community (WLCAC)
Since 1965, the Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC) has operated as the key antipoverty agency in South Central Los Angeles. The WLCAC continues to serve the residents of Watts, although that population is changing. As a result, the WLCAC has incorporated programs celebrating Latino culture and emphasized multiracialism to the people of its community.
Rosario Quintanilla
Food and Drug Administration, Los Angeles, Acting Supervisor
Rosario Quintanilla has served the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for 27 years as the Senior Public Affairs Specialist (PAS) for the FDA’s Los Angeles District service area. She has spearheaded and coordinated all communication with FDA’s diverse publics and strategized, implemented, and delivered programs covering public health messages. She manages all media and key official interactions with the local FDA offices, laboratory, and import operations. As a Spanish speaking fluent bilingual, Rosario has been at the forefront of consulting, spearheading, and assisting various FDA Centers in their Hispanic outreach, and Spanish language media utilization at a national/international level. She is currently serving as a Supervisor for the entire FDA Field Public Affairs program and staff.
Salomeh Wagaw, MPH
Health Equity Committee, Riverside County Department of Public Health, Chair
Salomeh Wagaw is an Epidemiologist with the Riverside County Department of Public Health. She designs and carries out specialized epidemiological evaluations, analysis, research, surveillance, risk assessment of disease and develop position papers. Acting as the liaison between the Public Health Branches, various committees, agencies, boards and media, allows her to interpret data and make recommendations for procedures and policies. She also serves as the Program Manager of the Healthy Riverside County Initiative.
Susi Rodriguez Shapiro, MSG
Community Representative
Susi Rodriguez Shapiro, MSG, is an award winning committed advocate for older adults and family caregivers with over a decade of recognized leadership and strategic vision in the private, non-profit, and government sectors. She offers experience in providing Program Development, Administration, and Delivery of programs and services for older adults, caregivers, and professionals in the field of aging. Her corporate background in business marketing has served aging organizations very well. As a much sought after bilingual (English/Spanish) public speaker at seminars, conferences, philanthropic events, radio and television, she has reached multicultural populations with cultural competencies that foster teamwork.
Ms. Rodriguez Shapiro is a Gerontologist with a Master of Science in Gerontology from USC and is a Cum Laude graduate of UCLA, where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. Her passion for advocacy has led her to work with AARP, Alzheimer’s Association, Area Agencies on Aging for both the City and County of L.A., several of the major Healthcare Plans, and numerous other senior-focused organizations. Ms. Rodriguez Shapiro lives in Los Angeles where she and her husband raised their three children.
Vivian Sauer
Jewish Family Services of Los Angeles
Vivian Sauer, a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, is the Director of Program Development for Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles, the oldest, and one of the largest social service agencies in Los Angeles. She joined the JFS staff in 1984 and has served in many positions including Senior Center Director, Director of Adult and Children Services, and Chief Program Officer. She is responsible for providing strategic leadership to the agency as well as program and grant development. Her current focus is on partnerships with health care entities such as managed care plans and community health care clinics, with a view towards integration of social service delivery, behavioral health and primary care. As Chief Program Officer, Vivian’s portfolio included supervision of all agency programs, serving a wide diversity of ethnic and cultural groups. Jewish Family Service has been providing services in Los Angeles for 160 years.
Wise & Health Aging
WISE & Healthy Aging, a nonprofit social services organization serving older adults and their families for more than three decades. Headquartered in Santa Monica, WISE & Healthy Aging continues that long tradition of service and outreach to seniors and their caregivers.