Executive Leadership

Dr. America Bracho is the Executive Director of Latino Health Access, health promotion and disease prevention center located in Santa Ana, California. This Center was created under her leadership to assist with the multiple health needs of Latinos in Orange County.

Latino Health Access facilitates mechanisms of empowerment for the Latino community and uses participatory approaches to community health education. The programs train community health workers as leaders of wellness and change. Dr. Bracho worked as a physician in her native Venezuela for several years. Then, she came to the U.S. to obtain a Master's Degree in Public Health at the University of Michigan. Her Public Health specialty is Health Education and Health Behavior.

After completing her Master's program, Dr. Bracho created and directed the AIDS projects for Latino Family Services in Detroit, Michigan, for four years. The program integrated HIV education programs that addressed needs confronted by the community, including the need for jobs, parenting classes, women's health services, drug treatment, and many others. She has been a trainer, presenter, and consultant for numerous government and private agencies around the nation, including The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, The National Council of La Raza, the University of Michigan, the University of California in Los Angeles, University of Maryland, Wayne State University, the University of California in Riverside, John Hopkins University, the University of California in San Diego, The U.S. – Mexico Border Association, the Texas Department of Health, the Joslin Diabetes Center, The National Conference of Lay Advisors, The National Conference of Community Outreach Workers, among others.

Dr. Bracho serves as a consultant for the Pan- American Health Organization and has been a valuable team member as a faculty member for several international courses in Latin America. In the past, Dr. Bracho has been involved with the Spanish-speaking media as hostess of a daily radio talk show and T.V. on health-related topics. She has also been a columnist of a local newspaper. She remains involved with the media as a source of information related to health awareness. 

Her numerous awards and recognitions for her Latino community contributions have been local, regional, and national.  She is respected and well known in Latino health issues, health education, minority women, cultural competency, community organizing, diabetes education, and HIV.