As the Chief Program Officer for Homeboy Industries, the largest gang rehabilitation program and therapeutic community in the country, she works to break the cycle of intergenerational violence and trauma by providing a healing space for people to increase their choices and chances.
Growing up in South Los Angeles, surrounded by gangs and violence, Torres didn’t know anyone who chose what they did for a living, let alone who went to college. “I am Latina, a first-generation college student, and I don’t come from a legacy of doctors and lawyers,” Torres said. “I come from a legacy of hard workers and struggle, of people who had a hunger for a better life.”
Torres shared that attending college wasn’t her plan, calling it an ”accident” that she was at Mt. SAC in the summer of 1998. She had come at the invitation of a friend and was recruited into the first cohort of a new program called Summer Bridge, a six-week program that supports recent high school graduates as they transition to college life.
With patience and support from counselors and professors who believed in her until she could believe in herself, Torres transferred from Mt. SAC to UCLA, where she graduated with a bachelor’s degree. Later, Torres would go on to earn a master’s degree from USC.
She has been at Homeboy Industries for 20 years, and in her current capacity, leads the agency in strategies to receive, engage, and retain citizens returning from California state and federal prisons, county jail, and juvenile detention facilities. Prior to her current role, Torres served as the director of Re-entry Services, providing leadership and oversight to several departments, including education and workforce development.
16 июн 2024
