The California Reducing Disparities Project (CRDP) was founded in 2009 with the goal of achieving mental health equity for five priority populations in California – African American, Latino, Native American, Asian and Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ+.
He has
volunteered over a decade at Stonewall Alliance Center of Chico, serving in many roles,
including as current board chair. He’s the CSU Chico and Butte Community College’s Safe
Zone lead trainer, and collaborates with the CSUC School of Nursing to provide a Trans patient
communication simulation to students.
Dr. Escareño has skillsets aimed at creating purposeful social change and positive disruption of injustice for underserved and under-recognized communities. As a grassroots social impact leader, they embrace strategy and collaboration as the impetus for designing meaningful change.
Born in Trinidad and Tobago, Dr. Lawford L. Goddard is a sociologist/demographer who received his doctoral degree from Stanford University. He was one of the founders of the Institute for the Advanced Study of Black Family Life and Culture, Inc. in Oakland, and Lecturer Emeritus in Africana Studies at San Francisco State University. Lawford is an expert on Black family dynamics, Black culture, youth development, suicide among the Black population, and substance abuse and HIV/AIDS education and prevention with over forty years experience as a trainer/educator in these areas and has participated in over eight federally funded community-based, participatory research, training and development projects
Marina Castillo-Augusto is the Equity Officer with the CA Department of Aging (CDA). In this role Marina advises CDA executive management in the implementation of policies related to embedding equity as a core principle throughout all aging, disability, and caregiving programs and initiatives. She leads CDA’s Equity Advisory Committee on Aging & Disability (EACAD) who’s role is to advise CDA on policies impacting older adults, adults with disabilities, and family caregivers, specifically those from Black, Indigenous, Latino, Asian-American, Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ+ communities.
Ms. Castillo-Augusto supports the development of the department’s Racial Equity Action Plan (REAP), works to improve engagement efforts with multicultural communities, monitors and evaluates progress towards improving equity in aging, disability, and caregiving programs and oversees the work of the department’s Tribal Affairs Program. Prior to being hired with CDA, Marina worked as the former Chief of the Community Development and Engagement Section with the Office of Health Equity at the California Department of Public Health, where she launched an innovative $60 million-dollar statewide initiative, the California Reducing Disparities Project, a pilot program aimed at reducing mental health inequities for targeted racial, ethnic, and LGBTQ communities. Ms. Castillo-Augusto has a track record for engaging hard to reach populations. Through culturally and linguistically responsive program design strategies, she effectively helps influence policy and systems change. Ms. Augusto received a BS in Criminal Justice and MS in School Counseling from California State University, Sacramento.
Ken Einhaus has dedicated his career to evaluating and promoting the mental and behavioral health of LGBTQ+ people, youth, and others experiencing disparities in health and well-being. Ken has over 25 years of experience collecting and analyzing health disparities prevention and policy change data, evaluating program services, and providing training and technical assistance (TTA) in diversity, inclusion, cultural humility, and health equity to CBOs, California County Departments of Health, the California Department of Health Care Services, and the Veterans Administration’s largest treatment facility for homeless veterans. Ken has been providing organizational development TTA to LGBTQ grantees as Co-Director of the LGBTQ TA Center for the California Reducing Disparities Project for over 7 years. As Senior Research Associate at the Center for Applied Research Solutions, he partners with the San Mateo County Health Department and Latinx, African American, and Tongan CBOs to analyze data on community wellness and alcohol, tobacco, and other drug use prevention. He also evaluates three California Tobacco Control Program policy change efforts in San Mateo and Orange Counties, a vape prevention program for youth in Orange County, an Emerging Leaders for Civic Engagement program for youth in Orange County, and a Brighter Futures for Children of Prisoners program in Orange County.