Improving Health and Restoring Hope around the World and in Our Own Backyard
Since 1970, Esperança has been bringing hope, providing health and transforming communities for the world’s poor. Through their volunteer surgical program, clean water and sanitation, home building, food security and nutrition, disease prevention, education and treatment programs, they have helped millions of people in 14 countries, including the United States.
Learn more at www.esperanca.org. Connect with Esperança on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn,.
Jeri Royce, Esperança
Jeri Royce is the President & CEO of Esperança. She has more than 25 years of experience in local and national nonprofit organizations, and she joined Esperança permanently in March of 2018. She is also Associate Faculty at ASU’s Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation.
Connect with Jeri Royce on LinkedIn.
Maria Valenzuela, Esperança
Maria Valenzuela is the Domestic Program Director at Esperança. She has worked with the organization since the inception of the Domestic Program in 2000. Maria oversees the community health programs Esperança provides within the Phoenix area. She has helped write several of the Esperança curricula, including a healthy living series called Salud con Sabor Latino (Health with a Latin Flavor), the development of nutrition and oral health programs, and a new diabetes course.
Maria has over 22 years of experience in community health programs within the Phoenix metropolitan area. She has worked with Latino–Hispanic families in low-income communities with a focus on nutrition, chronic illnesses, oral health, and empowering families to advocate for their education. She desires to make an impact by providing culturally and linguistically appropriate and sensitive preventative programming, and by advocating for the most vulnerable populations in the poorest communities in Phoenix.
Connect with Maria Valenzuela on LinkedIn.
Anna Ortiz, Esperança
Anna Ortiz is the International Program Director at Esperança. She has a B.A. in Sociology from Arizona State University and a Masters of Public Health from the University of Arizona. Anna has many years of experience in environmental health, program planning and management, monitoring and evaluation, WASH initiatives, community development, and cultural integration. She has also served in the Peace Corp and Chicanos Por La Causa.
Connect with Anna Ortiz on LinkedIn.
