Programmatic and operational leadership

Guillermo Alvarez was born in Jiquilpan de Ocampo, Michoacan, Mexico. At the age of 5, his family moved to Southern California to the rural community of Coachella Valley. Growing up in a predominantly Latinx community surrounded by agricultural fields witnessing the barriers and obstacles experienced by the community daily encouraged Guillermo to pursue a career where he could make a difference, initially aspiring to join the Medical field. With this in mind, Guillermo enrolled at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) in pursuit of a Major in Biological Science. 

Attending UCI was a fantastic experience for Guillermo because it allowed him to make new friendships and immerse himself in previously unknown cultures. However, it was not until his 2nd year, when Guillermo joined a Public Health class, that he learned the power of change when you collaborate with the community. This experience caused Guillermo to rethink his career path and eventually change his major. Guillermo graduated with his Bachelor’s degree in Public Health Science from UCI in 2012, but not before interning at Latino Health Access (LHA) under the Diabetes Program.

His internship at LHA allowed Guillermo to experience first-hand everything he envisioned Public Health could be when you collaborate with the community in a culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate manner. Guillermo was amazed at the work LHA was doing, making it an easy decision when he was invited to join the LHA Family of staff. His first role began as the Program Assistant/Data Clerk assisting with program management, program evaluations, program development & implementation, data storage, and data evaluation. This experience and his education allowed Guillermo to take on many leadership roles for the Diabetes Self-Management and Prevention Program, Healthy Weight, Elder Adult Program, and lately with the COVID-19 clinics.  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. 

Guillermo has over nine years of experience working with community members from various age groups (5-80 yrs) at a grassroots level. Overall, his goal is to ensure that everyone in Orange County has access to culturally sensitive education, is connected with the appropriate community resources, and is taken care of in a holistic manner.