Francine is honored to serve the Black and Brown community of South Los Angeles. A proud Latina and native of the San Gabriel Valley, she worked as a news producer before switching career paths to the nonprofit world. She discovered her passion for racial and social justice while earning her Master’s degree in American Studies at Cal State Fullerton, focusing on the subjects of race, gender, and class. The program immersed Francine in American history from Indigenous, Black, Brown, Asian, LGBTQ+ and many other perspectives for the first time, which helped place her experiences and the experiences of those around her into greater understanding of how racism and other forms of oppression are deeply rooted within our systems. This ignited a fire in her and was the catalyst for joining the fight for social justice to create greater equity for marginalized communities. Francine says she is thrilled to have found a home at CoCo as a Development Coordinator, helping to raise funds to continue building people power in South LA.