Lead Organizers
Melissa Vargas
Sacramento, CA
Melissa is the Project Manager for LPC’s Proyecto Oportunidad. She brings a range of experiences and leadership in advocacy, nationwide community organizing, and Get out the Vote voter mobilization. During Nevada’s 2010 U.S. Senate Campaign, Melissa helped lead voter contact and mobilization efforts and was instrumental in developing a bilingual team which mobilized over 270,000 labor members and their families to vote. Melissa is a graduate of Chapman University, where she obtained her degree in Communications and Journalism.
Kelly Rivas
Sacramento, CA
Kelly has a diverse background in community organizing, environmental sustainability and political activism. She is skilled in managing voter mobilization for statewide ballot initiatives, as well as congressional and legislative elections. Recently, she helped build the Working Families Win GOTV operation for the 2010 Nevada U.S. Senate race. Kelly received her B.A. in Politics from the University of California Santa Cruz in 2007. She specializes in online strategies in advertising, messaging and social networking.
Dyane Osorio
Sacramento, CA
Dyane is a lead organizer for LPC’s core group of community organizers. She was raised in a public service oriented family dedicated to social justice and equality. She has been involved in organizing, fundraising and advocating for the California Dream Act with AB 540 student organizations. Dyane received her B.A. in Political Science and dual Minors in Economics and History from Cal State University, Northridge.
Proyecto Organizers
Loida De Leon
Norwalk, CA
Loida graduated from California State University, Dominguez Hills with a BA degree in Political Science and a minor in Public Administration. Loida is passionate about making it easier for Latino families to vote. She also is a strong advocate for preserving higher education programs within the minority community. Loida’s most recent work experience was with SB Strategies as a Field Deputy and volunteer coordinator.
Yenni Diaz
Santa Ana, CA
Yenni received her BA in Political Science from University of California, Irvine in 2009. She managed a field campaign to collect surveys from central Santa Ana where she hired, trained and supervised a team of six surveyors and three support staff. She was a key part of the Orange County Dream Team where she established collaborative relationships with students, educators, the community, and government officials in an organization that advocates for undocumented students to continue their higher education.
Alfredo Isaias Garcia
La Mirada, CA
Alfredo graduated from California State University, Long Beach receiving a BA in Chicano/Latino Studies. He is currently working on his MA in Latin American Studies, at California State University, Los Angeles. Alfredo has been involved with Hermanos Unidos mentoring at risk youth in Long Beach, promoting college to middle school students, high school students and their parents. As the first person in his family to graduate from college, Alfredo wants to ensure the number of Latino/a students and professors increase so incoming minority students have more leaders with whom to identify.
Pedro Lopez
Santa Ana, CA
Pedro received his BA in Latin American History with a minor in Education from University of California, Davis in 2007. He has worked with the Orange County Community for Responsible Development conducting surveys of neighborhood residents and identifying community leaders for each area. He has experience coordinating with unions and community coalitions for events and has recruited inner-city youth to participate in discussion and community activities.
Denise Madrigal
Montebello, CA
Denise is a recent graduate from California State University, Los Angeles where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology. She is passionate about attaining social justice, especially in her hometown of East Los Angeles. In order to improve her community’s living conditions, Denise helps develop the community’s social, educational, economic and structural resources through advocacy and civic engagement with Cityhood for East Los Angeles.
Jesús Orozco
Montebello, CA
Jesús attained his BA in Spanish Literature from University of California, Berkeley in 2006. As the Education Coordinator for the Mar Vista Family Center Jesús has developed their college-prep curriculum and acquired a solid understanding of the college application/admissions process and financial aid. He guides and motivates low-income families to apply, attend, and graduate from college. He also volunteers for College Bound Today in a three year mentorship program for students from Bell Gardens High School to attend a university. Jesús is driven by his passion in creating positive change in Latinos’ lives through education.
Gabriela Rivera
Hawaiian Gardens, CA
Gabriela received her BA in Political Science with a history minor from University of California, San Diego in 2009. She has experience tutoring Latino youth as a bilingual instructor and as a college mentor for youth in the Compton Unified School District. She has experience with complex paperwork filings and applications from her work as a legal intern processing immigration documents in both English and Spanish.
Luis Alberto Sarmiento
Santa Ana, CA
Luis received his BA degree in Sociology from the University of California, Irvine. For nearly a decade, Luis has been actively committed to community organizing in Orange County. As an Organizer for Latino Health Access, he worked with over 200 residents around issues of development. Luis also has experience in early academic outreach programs, fair food campaigns, and teaching traditional music as a means of bridging generational divisions.
Fabiola Saucedo
Pico Rivera, CA
Fabiola received her Bachelor’s degree in Social Work at California State University, Long Beach. Her experience with the student-based Dream Team Los Angeles and Peace for Long Beach have all contributed to her understanding of the Latino community and of community organizing. She is passionate about helping the Latino community understand the importance of higher education. Fabiola also has experience working with HIV/AIDS patients.
Cinthia Zermeno
Santa Ana, CA
Cinthia received her Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Las Vegas, Nevada. She is extremely familiar with the Cesar Chavez house meeting model. Her experience working for PLAN and doing Latino outreach as well as organizing Las Vegas for the Hillary Clinton campaign will be a very good asset to the campaign. She is extremely passionate about helping the Latino community and for getting herself back into the community organizing field in Los Angeles.
