Executive Leadership

Nancy has over fifteen years of experience engaging urban, underserved communities of color in direct service, research, and policy initiatives. She joined LHA in 2011 and currently serves as the Chief Program Officer (CPO).  While at LHA she has co-designed and co-led campaigns alongside promotores to improve access to affordable and dignified housing, open space, community-driven development, and safe active transportation.  She has provided strategic direction to civic engagement, leadership development, and policy efforts working towards health equity and building power among immigrant communities.  As CPO, she oversees the programmatic initiatives of LHA, building equity into the organization’s decision-making and cultivating a culture of practice that addresses the social determinants of health through direct services, activation of resident leadership, and long-term policy and systems change.  Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Nancy has supported the redesign and development of programming that is accessible and safe to community residents.  

She was previously the Deputy Director of the City University of New York Institute for Health Equity and holds a Master of Public Health and a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University. She obtained a B.A. in Sociology and in Latin American Studies at UCLA. Nancy is an active board member for THRIVE Santa Ana Community Land Trust.  

Nancy was born in El Salvador and grew up in a working-class immigrant household which nurtured her passion for social justice, cafecito, and pan dulce.