Luz Castellanos-Vargas (she/her/hers/ella) has dedicated her career to working with children, families, and communities in Los Angeles County. Luz brings over 15 years of professional experience is working in the Mental Health (School-based and Outpatient), advocacy, and community engagement.
She initiated her career as a school-based case manager for Shields for Families where her passion was sparked for strengthening community resilience. In her role as Outpatient Mental Health Clinician for Uplift Family Services (formerly EMQ Families First), she engaged with children and their families and aided in their healing from intergenerational trauma, historical trauma, and promoted educational equity.
As a Family Engagement Specialist and Community Engagement Specialist at Child360, Luz worked closely with Early Childhood Education Administrators and Directors in strengthening parent and family involvement in their early education programs. She also served as a facilitator of community workshops on early childhood education topics as part of the Northeast Valley Best Start Collaborative.
Prior to joining the LA Civils Rights team as a Community Engagement Specialist, Luz managed the day to day operations for the Project Innovations Los Angeles program at Para Los Niños where she designed, managed and sustained a six community-based organization collaboration funded by DMH grant with the focus on building trauma resilient communities, community organizing and promoting social emotional wellness.
Luz earned her MSW from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and B.A in Sociology and Spanish from Cal-State Dominguez Hills.
In her spare time, you will find Luz enjoying beach camping, music festivals and concerts, and Dodger baseball games.