Creating equitable, healthy, and just communities where people can live and thrive.
To empower BIPOC communities with resources and knowledge to achieve equity and justice through community engagement, coalition building, and policy advocacy.
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506 S Spring St.
Suite 13714
Los Angeles CA 90013
Ashley Reyes is a first-generation college graduate from the San Fernando Valley. She graduated with her Master of Public Policy with concentrations in voting rights and immigration policy from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.
She currently works in a policy capacity for the City of Los Angeles and serves as the Vice President for the Latino Coalition of LA. Prior to her current role, she interned at Mayor Eric Garcetti’s Office of Intergovernmental and Legislative Affairs as a State Affairs Intern, and fulfilled a role as a Policy Fellow at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
She also interned at the district offices of Congressman Tony Cardenas (CA-29) and the Office of Councilmember Bob Blumenfield (CD-3),and conducted legal internships with the Central American Resource Center (CARECEN) and the LA Superior Courts. Ashley is passionate about social policy and Latino politics; she strives to empower underserved communities through equitable policies and programs.
Born and raised in the San Fernando Valley (SFV), Cindy knew she wanted to pursue a career in politics to improve the quality of life of her community. She attended the University of California, Santa Cruz, with the goal of making her time away from home short and efficient. She graduated in three years with a B.A. in Politics, a semester spent studying abroad in Spain, and three internship experiences from working for elected officials that represent the SFV during her summer breaks. The humbling experience of serving community members through government motivated her to the first job out of college to work for her California State Assemblymember. She worked as a Field Deputy for a year, spearheading relationships with Spanish speaking leaders through the district and connecting them to state resources.
Cindy wanted to experience community organizing and engaging at a deeper level and transitioned to become a Community Organizer for Elizabeth Warren’s Presidential Campaign. She was responsible for organizing across Los Angeles County and the San Gabriel Valley, strengthening her community engagement skills across communities of different cultural, ethnic, and racial backgrounds. During the pandemic, she took the initiative to broaden her skill set and learn about political fundraising. After completing the Arena Academy Finance Director Track, she took a virtual role as a Finance Manager for two Florida State Houses races.
She is currently serving on the Board of Directors of the Latino Coalition of Los Angeles, where she served as Board President in 2020, and American Red Cross Northern Valleys Chapter. She continues to work towards civic engagement through her new role as San Fernando Valley Community Organizer for TreePeople, an environmental justice nonprofit combating urban heat, fire resilience, and water quality issues, and as the California Regional Organizing Coordinator for Swing Left, to ensure democratic representation across the state.
Dennise Mejia was born in Bogota Colombia and migrated to the United States at the age of five. Dennise is a self-made serial entrepreneur and owner of various companies. In 2003, Dennise became the Founding CEO of California Physician Network LLC. Providing multiple professional services, consulting, medical billing, non-emergency transportation, and worker’s compensation lien litigation services to medical providers. In 2014, she became the Founder- CEO of Donaly Express Inc., a local trucking freight service company that caters to Southern California. In 2012, during her personal health journey, she became an executive distributor and health and wellness coach with the Yoli Better Body System—a wellness program for all ages.
Dennise is a dedicated civic leader in her local community and was appointed as a State Delegate for the Democratic State Committee where she served as part of the Electoral College. She is a past founder of the Chicano Latino Immigrant Democratic Club of Los Angeles County. She is a current member of Kiwanis International and past Vice President of the National Latina Business Women’s Association – Los Angeles. She is Co-Founder and Vice President of ICBWA International Cannabis Consulting Business Women’s Association and Board Member with multiple Chambers of commerce such as the California Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, Panorama City and Granada Hills chambers of Commerce. She was nominated in 2019 By LA Style Magazine as Entrepreneur of the year, nominated in 2020 by the Los Angeles Business Journal as Entrepreneur of the year, and nominated in 2021 by the Los Angeles Business Journal for Diversity and Inclusion award.
Recognitions: by Mayor Eric Garcetti, Senator Jimmy Gomez, Senator Susan Rubio, Assemblywomen Blanca Rubio, Congresswomen Nannette Barragan. Currently active Advisory Board of NLBWA-CA, Advisory Board member of Nosotros.org, Advisory Board member of Latino Coalition of Los Angeles, Advisory Board AME Alliance of Multicultural Entrepreneur and Advisory Board of Task Force Alquimia Global.
She is an Influencer, Mentor, business consultant and prides herself on developing meaningful working relationships to help build her communities.
She has passion to Mentor and Empower Leadership in her communities in any opportunity with Millennials and future generations to help provide creative spaces in diverse business platforms such as ICBWA.
Dennise is a mother of two beautiful children.
Jorge Reyes Salinas works as the Communications Director for State Senator Monique Limón. He served as CSUN’s student body president and was appointed by Governor Brown to serve as the California State University Student Trustee from 2016-2018. Jorge is a double graduate of CSU Northridge with a B.A. in Journalism and a M.A. in Communication Studies.
Steve Alfaro is from South East Los Angeles, CA. He is the son of immigrant parents from Guatemala. He is a multi-disciplinary artist and creative strategist. After spending 12 years in Washington D.C., he founded Unique Shift Creative an art and design studio that serves brands, issue campaigns, candidates, and organizations by helping them make unique decisions by using innovative ideas. Steve has studied at Cerritos College, Art Center, The Art Institute of California-Los Angeles, and Corcoran School of Art and Design. He began his career in entertainment by working at the SiTV Network (Now FUSE) where he worked on TV and Digital Campaigns to engage Latinx youth. The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences awarded him a Webby Honoree Award for his work at the network. During the 2020 Presidential elections, he curated his first-ever virtual art gallery for PODER LATINX that featured over 15 Latino/a/x artists from across the country and over 60 pieces of art selected to engage and connect with youth online. Since 2019 Steve has been teaching Graphic Design at Social Movement Technologies in English and Spanish for many organizations including Centro de Los Derechos del Migrante, VIP Mujeres, Dolores Street Community Services, and Dominicanos-USA, Inc. Steve’s work has been featured in The Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy, GOOD Magazine, the Washington Post, and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center. Steve was an Art for Social Justice Fellow at the Sanctuaries, and most recently a Ricardo Salinas / Aspen Ideas Festival Fellow. He currently lives in West Michigan with his partner FABI, daughter NINA and their dog HOPE.
Dr. John Garcia III is currently President of the Greater Los Angeles Education Foundation. Previously, he was the Senior Program Officer for Education at the California Community Foundation. John has served as a consultant for the National Governors Association, Jobs for the Future and the Southern Regional Education Board. He was also a policy analyst for the White House Initiative for Educational Excellence for Hispanics and resident fellow at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. John began his career in education as a school counselor after working for Intel Corporation and Jet Propulsion Laboratory and founded the Arizona College Access Network at the Arizona Commission for Post-secondary Education.
John received his bachelor’s and master’s degree from Arizona State University. He received his doctorate in education leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. John is currently a board member of Grantmakers for Education, Social Venture Partners Los Angeles, and the Leadership Academy.
Jorge Reyes Salinas works as the Communications Director for State Senator Monique Limón. He served as CSUN’s student body president and was appointed by Governor Brown to serve as the California State University Student Trustee from 2016-2018. Jorge is a double graduate of CSU Northridge with a B.A. in Journalism and a M.A. in Communication Studies.
“My passion is in being of service and being the best version of myself that I can be. That is a big part of why I am here with LCLA. This organization has opened doors for me, it’s helped me find my voice as an advocate, and I’ve made lifelong friendships with the people here. I have a deep love for the city of Los Angeles, and I feel that this organization represents that as well. My goal for 2021-2022 is to continue to help grow our coalition’s membership body and to find talented people who will help us bring about the vision and mission of our organization to life.”
Christian Raul Boche has been with LCLA since 2018. He graduated from California State University, Long Beach, with a B.A. in Philosophy in 2017. Since 2017, Christian has been working as a financial advisor with Modern Woodmen of America. His career has helped him find a passion for education and for philanthropy. “I realized just how important financial planning is to our success in life when I began a career in finance. I also realized how stark the lack of education and resources are within BIPOC communities when it comes to teaching the skills and savvy that’s needed for people to take control of their financial health. This fact has fueled my passion for educating my community and it’s motivated me to pursue a law degree. I hope to one day help people as an estate planning or an immigration attorney.”
Christian’s philanthropic efforts have led him to work with several nonprofit organizations across Southern California including: The Children’s Partnership, SALEF, Mychal’s Learning Place, Walk With Sally, His Little Feet, University Little League, Disabled Resource Center (Long Beach), and Communities In Schools. His efforts have been directed at helping fight cancer, eradicate homelessness, support immigration rights, and youth advocacy.
Christian was raised in the Mid-City neighborhood of Los Angeles, currently resides in Long Beach, and is of Guatemalan decent.
My name is Jake Montoya and I am a down and proud Eastsider, born and raised in East Los Angeles, CA.
While pursuing my higher education at San Francisco State University, I became deeply involved with local community organizing, and fell in love with the cause. It was in San Francisco that I realized, however, that I could have a much bigger and more meaningful impact in my hometown of Los Angeles.
After moving home, I was elected to the LCLA Board of Directors after having helped organize our 10th Anniversary in 2019 and have been on the B.O.D. since.
My career passions are in community organizing and social impact, but my personal passions are in the arts and in people. I am both incredibly grateful and excited to be able to merge my passions for community, communication, and the arts, into one effort to help realize the LCLA mission for a better Los Angeles for all.
Edwin Alejandro Arango is a native Angeleno who was born in 1994 to two immigrant parents from Guatemala. At an early age Edwin understood the importance of community organizing as his parents organized within the Guatemala community in LA and his friends organized on the street. He is an articulate, curious and generous young man with a passion for intellectual and moral development. His commitment to advance social justice was reaffirmed by his earning of a Master’s degree in Public Administration from California State University, Long Beach. Edwin’s ability to wed theory and practice paired with his capacity to transcend culture, social/political backgrounds and/or spiritual belief empower him to advocate for community lead and inspired policy proposals and initiatives.
Edmundo “Mundy” Diaz is the current Treasurer for the Latino Coalition of Los Angeles. He is the son of Cuban exiles and is originally from Miami, Florida where he was born and raised. He went to Miami-Dade college and then obtained a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Criminal Justice from Florida International University, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a Master’s of Public Administration degree from the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. During his time in graduate school, Mundy served as a consultant for nonprofits such as Project Angel Food, USC Price, and the California Foundation of the Environment and the Economy. Mundy currently volunteers with LA City Hall’s department of Civil +Human Rights and Equity Department and works full time at USC Dornsife. He is passionate about equitable policies for justice-involved youth, better cradle-to-career pipelines for public education, and eliminating the digital divide that affects marginalized communities. In his spare time, he is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner, Cuban-salsa dancing enthusiast, nature hiker, and huge travel buff.
Victor Manuel Cruz Jr is a Los Angeles-based community advocate, bringing justice and visibility to historically marginalized communities worldwide. His vision of equitable, self-sustaining, and self-efficient diverse communities has led Victor to become an emerging presence in social justice spaces focused on mental health, education, resource accessibility, immigration, labor rights, and advocacy. Victor aims to use his lived experiences and educational background to empower his community, honor the struggles of ancestors, and bring equity to his communities programmatically and politically.
Victor’s current roles at the United Latinx Fund (ULF) as both Workplace Campaign Giving Manager and Spanish Language Communications Coordinator has allowed Victor to engage in programming and development that results in a more equitable and socially justice-oriented Los Angeles. His work with United Latinx Fund has allowed Victor to leverage his understanding of policy, public administration, communications, and philanthropy to help shape community-oriented solutions that address both immediate and long-term needs. His work has better prepared Victor to create streamlined, tangible, and enduring solutions that leverage the private, public, and nonprofit sectors – solutions that facilitate community to the forefront.
Victor’s first experience with community organizing and social equity was at the age of 12, picketing and boycotting alongside his father in support of workers’ rights. This experience propelled Victor to organize students and their respective communities, leading him to do so on a national scale via Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlan (MEChA). Victor’s involvement as National Co-Chair and Coordinating Councilor afforded him first-hand knowledge on national campaign actualization and conference execution, permitting him to organize over five-thousand students around education access, workers’ rights, and immigration policy. As an alumnus of Summer Institute for Latino Public Policy, Victor deliberated with legislative leaders in both the House and Senate on issues of immigration and education policy, presenting personal research to support his cause.
Victor is a native of Los Angeles, from the neighborhood of Echo Park, of Mexican and Puerto Rican decent. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and Latino Studies from the University of Notre Dame, and his Master of Public Administration from the University of Southern California.
I am a woman of color. I am an immigrant. I was raised by a single mother. I grew up below the poverty line. I am legally blind. Each of these identities make up who I am, but do not define me. I am relentless.
I was born in El Salvador, at the age of 5, my mother brought me and my two sisters to the U.S. escaping the political instability there. That’s when South Central became my home sweet hood.
At the age of 10, I was diagnosed with Stargardt’s disease and declared legally blind. It was through my unrelenting determination, hard work, and with the support of my mom, loved ones, and nonprofits like the Braille Institute that I graduated high school with honors and earned a full scholarship to the College of the Holy Cross.
In 2019, I graduated with my Master’s in Public Policy from Mills College, in Oakland. I returned to South Central equipped with the tools and knowledge necessary to develop and advocate for equitable public policies rooted in social justice.
Access to higher education enabled me to see my community in a whole new light. Many of the injustices I’ve learned about as simply “concepts” continue to be experienced by people on my block. And I know that my neighborhood was turned into the “hood”; not through the fault of its residents, but rather through targeted public policies aimed at disproportionately disenfranchising people of color, low-income, immigrants, LGBTQ folks and other marginalized people.
I’ve always felt a calling for public service, and I’ve always known I have to do something to assist in my community’s transformation. That is why in March of 2020 I ran as a Write-In Candidate for LA City Council District 8. Although I didn’t win, my journey lead me to my LCLA familia; an intergenerational, multicultural, fierce squad of justice warriors.
Together we can achieve social justice and equity. I know it won’t be easy; but like I said I am relentless.
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LCLA President