CASA of Los Angeles (CASA/LA) organizes the community to take action and advocate for children and families in LA County’s overburdened child welfare and juvenile justice systems. Through an intentional, restorative and culturally relevant lens, we train committed, consistent and caring adults who provide equitable access to resources and life-affirming connections.

Our Mission

CASA of Los Angeles organizes the community to take action and advocate for children and families in LA County’s overburdened child welfare and juvenile justice systems.

Our Vision

CASA/LA’s vision is a Los Angeles in which all children and families impacted by the child welfare and juvenile justice systems have equitable access to the resources and support they need to thrive.

Our Values

Deep Love

We have deep love for the children and families in the child welfare system and for our staff and volunteers. Deep love is the glue that holds CASA/LA together.

 

Justice

We work towards justice for children and families and for improved systems that increase access to justice.

 

Authenticity & Integrity

We are committed to our values and acknowledge power structures and bias.

 

Accountability

We strive for professionalism, collaboration, and the honest measurement and reporting of our outcomes.

 

Respect

We treat everyone with respect and work to deserve the respect of all our partners.

CASA volunteers help children feel like they have someone to listen to them. Being heard gives them a sense of control. In a system where their needs and wishes are often disregarded or ignored, having an adult actively paying attention to what they say means everything. Even if the results aren’t instant, it plants a seed in their mind that they are worthy of respect. That is something they can carry with them for the rest of their lives.”

— Attorney, Children’s Law Center

History

In 1977, a Seattle juvenile court judge concerned about making drastic decisions with insufficient information conceived the idea of citizen volunteers speaking up for the best interest of children, in the courtroom and the community, who have experienced abuse and neglect. From that first program has grown a network of nearly 1,000 CASA and guardian ad litem programs that are recruiting, training and supporting volunteers in 49 states and the District of Columbia.Today, CASA of Los Angeles is one of the largest CASA programs in the country, affiliated with the California CASA Association and the National CASA Association of 949 community-based programs and over 76,000 volunteers serving 251,000 children nationwide.

Our Staff

Administration

Dr. Charity Chandler-Cole
Chief Executive Officer
323-859-2888 ext. 6318
cchandlercole@casala [dot] org

Tawny Alurac
Payroll Accountant
323-859-2888 ext. 6573
talurac@casala[dot]org

LaTasha Christian
Grant Accounting Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6558

Kati Farina
Data & Evaluation Specialist
323-859-2888 ext. 6309

Melissa Bordenave
Director of Contracts
323-859-2888 ext. 6389

Ambika (Mika) Khan
Chief Operations Officer
323-859-2888 ext. 6347
akhan@casala [dot] org

Ramona Kan
Accounting Controller 
323-859-2888 ext. 6403

Glenn Lezon
Chief Financial Officer
323-859-2888 ext. 6329
glezon@casala[dot]org

Timon Lo
Senior Accountant
323-859-2888 ext. 6345

Jacquelyn Mancia
Human Resources Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6377

Tina Rowe
Executive Assistant

Joshua Saxelby-Valle
Director of IT
323-859-2888 ext. 6354

Evangelina Vasquez
Human Resources Director
323-859-2888 ext. 6383

Jocelyn Velasquez
Office Operations Assistant
323-859-2888 ext. 6300
jvelasquez@casala[dot]org

Hiba Zakkour
IT Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6333

Advocacy

 Arlene Anguiano
Essential History Program Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6349

Rosa Arevalo
Advocacy Team Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6302

Kedrea Battle
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888  ext. 6432

Kari Becker
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888  ext. 6556

Lesley Bois
Advocate Supervisor
661-723-2272 ext. 5100

Madison Bradfield-Davis
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext. 6569

Sherry Bradford
Prevention and Early Intervention
Training Coordinator

323-859-2888 ext. 6577 

Kristienne Brooks
Director of Advocacy
323-859-2888 ext. 6343
kbrooks@casala [dot] org

La Wanda Brown
Advocate Supervisor

Chandler Bruyn
Essential History Program Coordinator
323-859-2888 ext. 6367

Tristan Bulatao
Prevention and Early Intervention
Resource Navigator

323-859-2888 ext. 6578

Alice Choi 
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext. 6331

Caroline Christ
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext. 6434

Ekaterina Danton
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888, ext. 6379

Angela Daughtry
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext. 6338

Eduardo De Anda
Pre-Trial Interventionist
323-859-2888, ext. 6564

Tammy Dietrich
Advocate Supervisor
661-723-2272 ext. 5103

Danielle Espinoza
Prevention & Early Intervention
Resource Navigator

323-859-2888 ext.6401

Jessica Gonzalez
Youth Justice Project Manager
323-859-2888 ext 6320

Yosie Gonzalez
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext.6557

Lauri Halderman
Early Childhood and
Expectant and Parenting
Youth Program Manager

323-859-2888 ext. 6312

Shikeem Hayle

Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext. 6376

Stefanie Jadidi
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext. 6337

Monica Kincade
Advocacy Team Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6352

Lucy Le
Partnerships Coordinator
323-859-2888 ext. 6323

Robert Lee
Program Assistant (Antelope Valley)
661-723-2272 ext. 5102

Aimee Lencsak
Director of Programs
323-859-2888 ext. 6356

Adriana Lopez
Advocacy Team Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6317

Joseph Luciani-Cervantes
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext. 6313

RitaRenne Najla Muhammad
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext.6407

Sylvia Martin
Expectant and Parenting Youth Specialist
323-859-2888 ext. 6405

Carolyn McGee
Advocacy Team Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6327

Ben Miller
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext. 6365

Michelle Neumann
Prevention and Early Intervention
Program Manager

323-859-2888 ext. 6334

Chelsea O’Neill
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext. 6370

Suzen Pando
Prevention & Early Intervention
Resource Navigator

323-859-2888 ext.6402

Jessica Rivas Valle
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext. 6305

Lauren Rodriguez
Advocacy Operations Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6308

Jontae Watkins
Advocate Supervisor
323-859-2888 ext. 6341

Development and Communications

Marie Carpenter
Chief Development Officer
323-859-2888 ext. 6328
mcarpenter@casala [dot] org

Rese Clifton
Special Events Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6331
rclifton@casala [dot] org

Kim Goldman
Director of Development
323-859-2888 ext. 6560
kgoldman@casala[dot]org

Leah Gould
Grants and Foundations Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6430
lgould@casala[dot]org 

 

Joy Joukhadar
Grant Writer
323-859-2888 ext. 6575
jjoukhadar@casala[dot]org 

Patrick Lee
Donor Engagement Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6576
plee@casala[dot]org 

Zoe Moctezuma
Development Associate
323-859-2888 ext. 6370
zmoctezuma@casala[dot]org

Marissa Wasseluk
Marketing Manager
323-859-2888 ext. 6570
mwasseluk@casala[dot]org

 

Volunteer Services

Isabel Bloom
Manager of Volunteer Relations
323-859-2888 ext. 6559
ibloom@casala[dot]org

Aimee Borrayo
Training Specialist
323-859-2888 ext. 6562

Lance Cortez
Training Specialist
323-859-2888 ext. 6567

Sierra Doxey
Training Specialist
323-859-2888 ext. 6566

Lynne Gabriel
Chief Volunteer Officer
323-859-2888 ext. 6306
lgabriel@casala [dot] org

Sheila Hernandez
Volunteer Coordinator
323-859-2888 ext. 6315

OT (Otesha) Mosely-Bremond
Director of Recruitment & Outreach
323-859-2888 ext. 6408
omosely-bremond@casala [dot] org

Denise Preciado
Manager of Volunteer Recruitment and Outreach
323-859-2888 ext. 6371

Michael Santell
Volunteer Coordinator
323-859-2888 ext. 6409

Jasmine Sanchez
Community Organizer
323-859-2888 ext. 6571

Emily Scrimshaw
Director of Training and Volunteer Relations
323-859-2888 ext. 6315
escrimshaw@casala [dot] org

Deraan Washington
Training Specialist
323-859-2888 ext. 6565

Board of Directors

Alaynè Marie Sampson — Chair
Chandler Asset Management

Erika Johnson — Interim Vice Chair
The Center for Early Education

Ricardo Gonzalez Treasurer
Southern California Gas Company

Doug Anderson, JD
PricewaterhouseCoopers

Aishwarya Bhave
Neogov Inc.

Doug Bond
Amity Foundation

Andrew Goldberg
Leonard Green & Partners. L.P.

Christian Green
Los Angeles Community College District, Pasadena City College District, Compton College, UCLA and CSU Dominguez Hills

Belinda Heard
Capital Group Companies

Samuel Herod
Court Appointed Special Advocate

Dr. Tamara Hunter
Commission for Children and Families, Los Angeles County

Veronica Keegan

Riot Games

Lori Kozak
Fox Rothschild

Mark Lamia
Activision (retired)

Ed Nahmias 
Capital Group Companies (retired)

Debra Ravden 
Klopert & Ravden, LLP

Johna Rivers
Filmmaker

Daniel Sarkis
Mercer

Nathan M. Spatz
Pillsbury

Courtney Torres
Courtney Torres Consulting

 

Jacqueline Dolan

CASA of Los Angeles Founding President

Justice is what love looks
like in public