Our Team

Your Supportive Team of Experts & Innovators

Staff

youthink brings together a unique blend of expertise across Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA):

Led by the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine, our team of clinical, behavioral, and community-based health professionals work directly with young people ages 12-25 to make sure they have the resources to thrive, while our training and capacity building team works at a national scale to provide education, best practices, and hands-on support to schools, community-based organizations, and other partners meeting the everchanging needs of adolescents and young adults.
In partnership with the Innovation Studio, which inspires, incubates, and accelerates innovative processes and technologies that improve the health of patients and their families. This includes many programs focused on care model innovation, clinical education and simulation, connected care, and accelerators like KidsX.

Sophia Pennella, MPH (she/her/hers)

Project Manager and Coach

Sarah Cohen, BA (she/her/hers)

Innovation Strategist and Coach

Sarah Cohen, BA (she/her/hers)

Innovation Strategist and Coach

Sarah works specifically with the youthink team to develop and facilitate design thinking trainings, coach teams through their innovation process, and create a cohesive cohort experience. She believes we are all designers so long as we are making intentional decisions and brings that philosophy to all that she does. Sarah is passionate about the design thinking process and excited to apply it to most any problem. She started her career at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University and has a decade of experience applying and teaching design thinking across sectors, including K-12 education, higher education, nonprofit, and technology companies. Sarah received her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Mona Desai, MPH (she/her/hers)

Project Director and Coach

Mona Desai, MPH (she/her/hers)

Project Director and Coach

With over twenty years of experience in both qualitative and quantitative research, Mona has led the design and implementation of research on intervention projects and spearheaded multiple community-based participatory research and needs assessment efforts. She has a strong track of record of research in various areas including adolescent reproductive and sexual health, youth experiencing homelessness, transgender health, and substance use prevention. She has held key leadership roles in adapting and testing evidence-based interventions, packaging innovative interventions for dissemination, and translating research findings for diverse stakeholders. Mona received her Master of Public Health from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mia Humphreys Pozo, MSW (she/her/hers)

Associate Project Director and Coach

Janet Rivera, BA (she/they)

Evaluation and Learning Lead

Frances LaSalle-Castro, MPH (she/her/hers)

Project Advisor and Coach

Frances LaSalle-Castro, MPH (she/her/hers)

Project Advisor and Coach

Frances oversees the Pregnancy Prevention, Education, and Support Programs with over a decade of experience dedicated to supporting vulnerable youth. She also oversees the AIM Service Center at CHLA, where she serves as a Master Trainer, providing technical assistance and training for the evidence-based programs Project AIM and AIM 4 Teen Moms to agencies and schools across the United States. Frances’ expertise includes ensuring effective program implementation, cultivating partnerships with community agencies, conducting qualitative and quantitative research, and adapting, testing, and packaging interventions for broader dissemination. Notably, she has co-developed the Teen Pregnancy Prevention program AIM 4 Teen Moms. Frances holds a Master of Public Health with a concentration in Health Promotion from San Diego State University.

Efe M. Oghoghome, MPH, CHES® (she/her/hers)

Health Communications Lead

Efe M. Oghoghome, MPH, CHES® (she/her/hers)

Health Communications Lead

With over nine years of diverse public health experience spanning government, nonprofit, and private sectors, Efe excels at transforming complex concepts into clear, actionable information for all audiences. Her expertise covers a wide range of areas, including blood health, physical activity, nutrition, immunization, health equity, COVID-19 response, homelessness, and HIV prevention. Before joining Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, Efe focused on fostering collaboration among government agencies, non-profit organizations, community-based groups, and private companies to advance federal blood health and safety initiatives. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from Meharry Medical College and is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES®).

Deepa Shah, MHA (she/her/hers)

Innovation Manager

Deepa Shah, MHA (she/her/hers)

Innovation Manager

Deepa is a health care and tech operator with over ten years of experience in driving organizational transformation and scaling innovation across the industry. She currently serves as the Head of Operations and Strategy for the KidsX accelerator program at CHLA, where she leads their team of innovation strategists and oversees business operations, growth, and marketing. Prior to her role at CHLA, Deepa has collaborated with leadership teams at both non-profit organizations and start-ups to launch high-impact programs and has strategically led their business development and operational departments. Deepa has received a Master of Healthcare Administration from George Washington University.

Belen Gonzalez (she/her/ella)

Logistics Lead

National Advisory Board

Trese Flowers, DPA (c), MPH, ICPS (she/her/hers)

Program Manager at Morehouse School of Medicine

Rebecca Gudeman, JD, MPA (she/her/hers)

Senior Director of Health at the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL)

Rebecca Gudeman, JD, MPA (she/her/hers)

Senior Director of Health at the National Center for Youth Law (NCYL)

Rebecca works to ensure youth have equitable access to health care by leading initiatives that combine policy, litigation, and community collaboration. In 2016, she launched the Reproductive Health Equity Project for Foster Youth, a groundbreaking effort to promote healthy sexual development for foster youth. Rebecca is a national expert in areas such as health care consent, confidentiality, and information sharing. She holds a Master of Public Administration from Harvard University and Juris Doctor degree from University of California, Los Angeles and has spent over 30 years advocating for young people.

Keith Nathaniel, EdD (he/him/his)

4-H Youth Development Advisor at University of California

Eunetra Rutledge, BA (she/her/hers)

Director of Distribution at Peer Health Exchange

Cody Ragonese, MPH (he/him/his)

Associate Director of Programs at Equimundo: Center for Masculinities and Social Justice

Barbara Ball, PhD (she/her/hers)

Research Scientist at the Texas Institute for Child and Family Wellbeing at The University of Texas at Austin

Subject Matter Experts

At youthink, we are proud to collaborate with a team of renowned experts at the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine (DAYAM) at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. These professionals bring extensive experience and expertise in adolescent and young adult health. Here’s a brief introduction of our DAYAM subject matter experts:

Miguel Martinez, MSW, MPH (he/him/his)

Senior Program Manager at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Miguel Martinez, MSW, MPH (he/him/his)

Senior Program Manager at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Miguel manages the HIV Program and the Center for Transyouth Health and Development at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles’ Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine. He has over 25 years’ experience in program planning, adapting and implementing evidence-based interventions, and local and national leadership in community planning and mobilization. Miguel is a queer, Latinx social worker and public health practitioner committed to efforts to center the bodily autonomy and health and wellness of community.

Leslie Rosenthal, MD (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Attending Physician at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Leslie Clark, PhD (she/her/hers)

Director of Innovation Science at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Claudia Borzutzky, MD (she/her/hers)

Division Chief at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Claudia Borzutzky, MD (she/her/hers)

Division Chief at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Dr. Claudia Borzutzky is an Adolescent Medicine specialist whose areas of clinical and research expertise include adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health, and weight and nutrition-related issues. She is passionate about working with teens directly, and about supporting the professional and personal development of other health care providers and program experts who also love working with teens. She has been a USC Keck School of Medicine faculty member since 2006 and started as Chief of the CHLA’s Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine in 2024.

Bridgid Mariko Conn, PhD, ABPP (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor and Licensed Psychologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Bridgid Mariko Conn, PhD, ABPP (she/her/hers)

Assistant Professor and Licensed Psychologist at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Dr. Conn is a board-certified child and adolescent psychologist in the Center for Transyouth Health and Development in the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Pediatrics and Psychology at the University of Southern California. Her clinical and research interests focus on addressing health behaviors among adolescents and young adults, particularly those impacted by complex trauma, that results from systemic inequities. Her works aims to develop interventions to address minority status-related barriers and stressors that contribute to health disparities for historically marginalized and oppressed communities.

Arlene Schneir, MPH (she/her/hers)

Division Administrator at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Arlene Schneir, MPH (she/her/hers)

Division Administrator at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Arlene has extensive experience developing model programs in the areas of youth homelessness, adolescent pregnancy, HIV prevention and treatment, substance abuse prevention, intimate partner abuse, transgender health, and trauma. She has developed and implemented national training and technical assistance services and worked in advocacy and policy-making bodies in the adolescent health arena for more than 35 years. Arlene received her Master of Public Health from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Alejandra Cortez, LCSW (she/her/ella)

Program Manager at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles

Adriana Romero-Espinoza, MPH (she/her/ella)

Program Supervisor at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles