This week's AUHSD Future Talks episode features Mary Anne Foo. Ms. Foo is the executive director and founder of the Orange County Asian and Pacific Islander Community Alliance, Inc. (OCAPICA) a non-profit community based organization serving the diverse and underserved communities in Southern California regarding health, mental health, policy and civic engagement, youth leadership and education, and workforce development. OCAPICA has over 100 staff who speak 26 languages with programs that serve more than 40,000 community members a year. OCAPICA is a former CDC National Centers of Excellence in Health Disparities.
Mary Anne has been working for over 30 years on issues affecting diverse populations on national, state and local level at several community and county wide organizations. She has received numerous honors including the TCWF Sabbatical Award, Legacy Award from Orange County Human Relations, Woman of the Year from former Assemblymember Lou Correa, Southern California Society of Public Health Educators’ Health Educator of the Year, and Unsung Heroine from To the Contrary’s Bonnie Erbe and PBS. Mary Anne has served as Principal Investigator or co-PI to numerous community based participatory research programs in California. In addition she serves on several boards including, a local hospital, foundation, and other nonprofits.
