Community Coalition
Valery Mendoza-Martinez is a dedicated social worker and coordinator with extensive experience in educational and community-focused programs. Currently serving as Fellowship Coordinator at Community Coalition since June 2020, Valery previously held roles such as Macro Social Work Intern at UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs and D3 Project Manager at UCLA Bruin Resource Center, where efforts centered on social identity-based intergroup relations and conflict resolution. Valery's background also includes working as School Social Worker for Communities In Schools of Los Angeles and coordinating the JUSTICE Program at University of California, Santa Cruz, promoting college readiness among first-year students. Other notable positions include North Coast Teen Center Coordinator at Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County and various tutoring and leadership roles aimed at supporting diverse student populations and fostering social justice. Valery holds a Master of Social Work from UCLA and a Bachelor’s degree from University of California, Santa Cruz.
Community Coalition
Our Mission: To help transform the social and economic conditions in South LA that foster addiction, crime, violence and poverty by building a community institution that involves thousands in creating, influencing and changing public policy. Who We Are: Community leaders, including U.S. Congresswoman Karen Bass, founded Community Coalition as a non-profit organization in 1990 in response to the 1980's crack cocaine epidemic that devastated South LA. The goal was to provide preventative community-centered solutions to the drug problem. Community Coalition works with African American and Latino residents to build a prosperous and healthy South LA with safe neighborhoods, quality schools, a strong social safety net and positive economic development in order to reduce crime, poverty and substance abuse in our community.