Valeria Gomez

Valeria Gómez, MSW (Grants Manager) joined CISLA in 2022, bringing over five years of experience in the social impact sector. As Grants Manager, she supports CISLA in sharing the vision and impact of our work with corporate, foundation, and community partners whose generous support makes our mission possible.

Prior to joining CISLA, Valeria dedicated her professional career to advancing positive youth development efforts and supporting the work of equity-focused education nonprofits. Valeria comes to CISLA from the City of Long Beach Health & Human Services Department, where she helped write and launch the first Youth Strategic Plan for the City and led the disbursement of CARES relief grants for youth services. She previously worked at City Scholars® Foundation as Foundation Manager, working with a variety of education nonprofits in the Greater L.A. area to help strengthen their leadership and accelerate their organizational impact. Earlier in her career, she worked at Spark of Los Angeles, a career exploration program that connects middle school students to mentor companies like Warner Bros. Studios and Gensler, leading the program at Bethune Middle School in South Los Angeles.

Valeria holds a Master’s in Social Work degree from the University of Southern California (USC) with a concentration in Social Change and Innovation. As a first-generation college student, Valeria also earned her B.A. in English Literature and Latin American Latino Studies from UC Santa Cruz. In her free time, she enjoys watching horror films and traveling to new cities.