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In my first few months, I am excited to embark on a listening tour to meet our Neighborhood Councils across the City. I look forward to finding ways to support Neighborhood Councils and the communities they represent, and ensuring we engage City Hall to respond to community needs. I believe in a Neighborhood Council system that is inclusive and representative of the many cultures and diversity of our great City.

Personal Message:

I am a lifelong community organizer with a passion to empower communities, especially immigrants and underserved people, to be actively engaged in public and political processes while working to make systems more inclusive. I’ve spent nearly two decades working on issue & political campaigns, international development, and serving in the federal government. I am also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, completing my service in Cameroon. I love supporting the Lakers and Dodgers, exploring good food in LA, and world travel with my husband and two littles.

Interesting Fact:

I learned about the Neighborhood Council system last year when a tragic incident happened at my neighborhood intersection. A neighbor created a petition to install a traffic light to slow down traffic, and I started joining the NoHo Neighborhood Council meetings to voice support. While I was introduced to Neighborhood Councils, and the work of the Department, due to an unfortunate event as a resident, the experience instilled the importance of our Neighborhood Councils to ensure community voices are heard.

To me, neighborhood empowerment is when all Angelenos feel empowered to speak up and take action through local government to make our communities better.

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Responsibilities and Assignments:

Armando is responsible for Budget, Accounting, Payroll, Personnel, Facilities, IT, Marketing, and other administrative elements of outreach activities.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

I am happy to help and look forward to working with you.
Armando is an avid book, audiobook, comic, TV, and movie fan. He enjoys the occasional round of golf with his son, and shopping with his wife and daughter.

Skills:

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Responsibilities and Assignments:

Tom is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that Empower LA and engage the community.

Personal Message:

Isn’t CA great? You bet it is!
“If food is the music of love, then eat on”

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Responsibilities and Assignments:

Vanessa is the Director of Field Operations.

Interesting Fact:

Vanessa previously served on the Pacoima Neighborhood Council and  a neighborhood empowerment advocate.

Skills:

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Responsibilities and Assignments:

Atziri will lead the division that is charged with providing neighborhood councils with meaningful training to develop their skills and abilities to engage in deliberate governance, civil discourse, and serve their communities through their neighborhood council.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Responsibilities and Assignments:

Gibson will lead the division charged with fostering a culture of creativity to inspire innovative incremental approaches for neighborhood councils to influence City decision-making.

Interesting Fact:

Gibson is bilingual speaker; he speaks Swahili and English. He is excited to assist by serving the community.

Skills:

• Public Speaking
• Car Enthusiast’ percent
• FIFA (any year)

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Responsibilities and Assignments:

Marilú will work to expand engagement and awareness efforts for the neighborhood council system and conduct successful citywide neighborhood council election outreach

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Responsibilities and Assignments:

Wendy is responsible for technically complex & critical analyses of Information Systems; Project Manager for all IT assignments.

Develops, plans & provides regular systems support including budgeting, purchasing and maintenance of technology assets for the Neighborhood Empowerment Department

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Fill out form below to contact Erick:

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Fill out the form below to contact Karen:

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Fill out form below to contact Ava:

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Fill out the form below to contact Terry:

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Fill out the form below to contact Cecilia:

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Vincent is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that Empower LA and engage the community.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Responsibilities and Assignments:

Lorenzo is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that Empower LA and engage the community.

Interesting Fact/Personal Message:

Lorenzo Briceno joined the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment with 10 years of Legislative experience with the Los Angeles City Council.  He previously worked as Assistant Chief of Staff to Councilmember Bernard C. Parks.  His Management experience leading a political office’s legislative team brings great value to our department. He holds a strong background and understanding of local government process and understands the council and committee process. He brings his insights into the Neighborhood Empowerment Department and has a desire for increasing civic engagement, while building strategic partnerships with stakeholders, and advocacy groups to further empower citizens of Los Angeles.

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Prabhjot is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that Empower LA and engage the community.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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John is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that Empower LA and engage the community.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Responsibilities and Assignments:

Helena is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that Empower LA and engage the community.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Jose is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that Empower LA and engage the community.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Joel is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that Empower LA and engage the community.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Mario is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that Empower LA and engage the community.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Daniel is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that Empower LA and engage the community.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Alfonso is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that Empower LA and engage the community.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Octaviano is responsible for supporting Neighborhood Council Boards with capacity building, training, and organizing skills that Empower LA and engage the community.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Mario is here to help with questions about Neighborhood Councils. He also assists NCs with Agendas, Rosters and NC Training.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

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Fill out the form below to contact Axel:

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Fill out form below to contact Vartan:

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Fill out the form below to contact Elaine:

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Fill out form below to contact Kevin:

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Fill out the form below to contact Joanna:

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Fill out the form below to contact Preston:

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Lena supports EmpowerLA Communications activities. Her duties include the editing of official Neighborhood Council related documents and creating content for outreach through social media and other communication platforms.

Personal Message/Interesting Fact:

Lena has a bachelor’s degree in Literature/Writing from UC San Diego. Prior to joining EmpowerLA, she supported authors and literary agencies and provided writing and language arts tutoring to K-12 and college students.

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Kyle plays a pivotal role in supporting both the Systems and Administrative services teams by engaging in a wide array of tasks and projects. His expertise spans the management of the department’s customer relations database and website, alongside overseeing departmental and Neighborhood Council email systems and conducting training sessions, significantly contributing to the operational efficiency and effectiveness of the services provided.

Interesting Fact:

As an integral member of the department’s Tech Team, Kyle actively participates in discussions focused on leveraging current and emergent technologies to enhance departmental productivity and efficiency. He has successfully completed his Bachelor of Science degree in Information Systems, with a concentration in Systems Management, and graduated Cum Laude. Beyond his professional and academic pursuits, Kyle harbors a deep passion for aviation and automobiles, indulges in both video and tabletop gaming, and enjoys showcasing his diverse range of interests and hobbies through 3D design and at-home manufacturing techniques, including 3D printing and desktop CNC machining.

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