Danielle Torres

Background

About Danielle Torres

Discerning critical thinker with an enduring track record of academic excellence, I graduated top of my class from NHS in 2015 and University of California, Berkeley, just 2.5 short years later. I am a tenacious, action-oriented problem solver who directs community engagement. My career motivation and focus is mental health and the mental healthcare system, with a particular emphasis on their impact within marginalized communities in the broader Los Angeles County region where I was born, raised, and reside. As an active community participant, my Comparative Ethnic Studies degree culminated in a yearning to collaborate with other changemakers to find solutions to complex health and human service issues. It enlightened me to the fact that any individual with a given social location can interact with an institution and gain vastly different experiences, opportunities, resources, societal benefits, and perspectives than another will. Then I lived through my own crisis and observed others persevere through the COVID-19 pandemic. Never a person to stand by, the COVID-19 emergency declaration elicited within me the desire to help with my County's public health efforts. From Day 1, I helped lead, cross-train, and troubleshoot multiple Los Angeles County-funded, public-serving testing sites. Simultaneously, I helped to alleviate the increased strain COVID-19 placed upon just one large network of hospitals and medical practices across California. Tirelessly, I committed 7 days around the clock to pandemic relief efforts. After various experiences from start-ups, small corporations, nonprofit organizations of varying scale, to health systems scattered across higher education, government, marketing, healthcare, mental health, and nonprofit industries, I am now committed to pursuing a career in social work, a field that offers immense potential to make a positive impact on society. My natural empathy and strong communication skills, combined with my education and experiences, have prepared me well for this career path. In reflection, the common thread in my experiences has been to help humankind to achieve a better living standard, to help patients, to help clients, to aid individuals, families, and communities. I desire to continue this essential work in helping people navigate, access, and attain effective mental healthcare. One constant since the pandemic has been a crisis of mental health, and I'm committed to the fight for diversity, equity, and inclusion.#Notjustatagline.