Thelma Navarro, MPH

Thelma is a Researcher and Policy Advocate from Ensenada, Mexico. After being raised in an undocumented household, she devoted her career to advocating for improved access to social services. She received her BA in Sociology from UCLA, where she began her public health career organizing health fairs in Los Angeles County and Baja California which served primarily undocumented and under-resourced individuals. Her healthcare career was then followed by years in community-based research, studying paths to ameliorate gaps in HIV care and prevention. She returned to school to get a Master’s in Public Health from SDSU, changing her trajectory to administration and stakeholder engagement. During this time, she continued to grow frustrated by the systemic inequities her community members were facing, such as unstable housing, lack of transportation and unsafe work environments, to name a few.

As a long-term grassroots organizer and humanitarian aid volunteer, she saw CPI as a perfect opportunity to merge her passion for fighting to eliminate barriers to services, and breaking down systems of oppression overall, that make it nearly impossible for people to live healthy, fulfilling lives.

Outside of work, she serves as a Board Member for Immigration Psychology Partnerships, a newly founded nonprofit aiming to make psychiatric evaluations more accessible for people seeking asylum, and teaches public health courses at San Diego State University. You can also find Thelma with her chihuahua Timón at the beach, reading in cute coffee shops, doing water drops and day laborer outreach with migrant rights organizations, rotting on TikTok, or doing any physical activity that allows her to intentionally move her body.

Contact Thelma: tnavarro@cpisandiego.org