Adriana is a daughter of Mexican immigrants who was raised in East Oakland and now resides in Orange County. Her passion for community-centered design, engagement, and planning stems from her upbringing across urban, suburban, and rural geographies in California and her experiences working in various cultural centers and social justice spaces.

Prior to joining the Cal Walks team, Adriana fortified her technical and analysis skills through planning consulting work and research. She has dedicated three years to local policy organizing and housing justice in Long Beach. Adriana built partnerships with local stakeholders, supported low-income tenants’ right to organize, worked on local policies, and collaboratively strategized campaigns to address rent increases. These experiences demonstrated how vital it is to be intentional with how community engagement is conducted in movement building and make advocacy research accessible to diverse audiences and abilities. She hopes to further expand on this practice as a Community Programs Coordinator at Cal Walks.

Adriana holds a Master of Urban and Regional Planning from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, a Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Urban Studies from CSU Long Beach, and a Bachelor of Arts in Ethnic Studies from CSU Fullerton.