Anna Lisa Vargas
@ Communities for a New California Education Fund
Anna Lisa grew up in the small rural community of Thermal, located in the Eastern Coachella Valley. At a young age, she learned about the importance of service to others, a commitment that has only continued to blossom. Anna Lisa’s love of community and passion for advancing the greater good and social justice led her to be a part of Communities for a New California’s creation in 2011 as a founding board member.
Before CNC, Anna Lisa was managing director at Poder Popular of the Eastern Coachella Valley, where she oversaw educational projects and community health and advocacy efforts in the region. She is also a previous school board member of the Coachella Valley Unified School District. Her political acumen, experience engaging community members, and supporting volunteer Promotores Comunitarios have made her an integral member of the CNC team. As a lead community organizer, Anna Lisa is part of the AB 617 Eastern Coachella Valley Community Steering Committee, which is working to identify and implement air monitoring and emission reduction plans in the Valley. In addition, she is examining the health impacts of short-term repeated exposure to wildfire smoke in the unincorporated communities of eastern Riverside County with the University of California, Irvine. She also helps oversee the Lift to Rise Resident Leadership Table, increasing civic engagement in support of affordable housing.
During the 2021-22 redistricting process, Anna Lisa engaged over 100 residents in the City of Indio. As a result of her outreach and engagement, dozens of community members created the Indio Residents United/Residentes de Indio Unidos map, attended hearings, and provided public testimony.
Anna Lisa facilitated ten focus group discussions in the Eastern Coachella Valley which engaged over 118 families in 2023 through a partnership with the University of California Irvine Program in Public Health and Communities for a New California Education Fund (CNC EF) to “Examine the Health Impacts of Short-Term Repeated Exposure to Wildfire Smoke”. This project is funded by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Community Air Grants.
She is a co-author in the journal Science of the Total Environment. The title is Wildfire risk perception and communication in disadvantaged communities: insights from Eastern Coachella Valley in Southern California. Anna Lisa is a mother and certified medical Qigong instructor. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Anthropology from the University of California, Irvine.