PRESS RELEASE
Contact:
Matthew Wadlinger
Chief Communications Officer
714-619-5149
LINDA ZAMORA SELECTED AS CHAIR TO CASA DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
Santa Ana, Calif. (February 19, 2019) – Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Orange County is pleased to announce the appointment of Linda Zamora as the new Chair to the Diversity Committee auxiliary group. The CASA Diversity Committee was formerly known as the Hispanic Advisory Council, and changed its name to the Diversity Committee in January of 2018. The Diversity Committee supports CASA’s mission by actively spreading community awareness in order to grow a diverse pool of volunteers – with the primary goal of recruiting and retaining advocates that mirror the demographics of the children CASA serves. CASA currently has 486 community volunteers who have taken 30 hours of mandated training provided by the organization and have taken sworn oaths of confidentiality to officially become Court Appointed Special Advocates. Currently, the two areas of primary focus for the Diversity Committee are increasing the number of prospective individuals who identify as Hispanic/Latino(which account for 13% of the volunteers CASA has and 60% of the children served) and male individuals (which account for 19% of the volunteers CASA has and 49% of the children served).
The Diversity Committee is comprised of engaged community members who assist in the efforts of finding unique avenues to assist in the volunteer recruitment efforts of the CASA organization. CASA is honored to have Linda Zamora at the helm of the Diversity Committee. Linda has been an active member of this group since 2015. “I am looking forward to leading the CASA Diversity Committee as we develop both short-term and long-term strategies to help us meet our goals of recruiting more volunteers to work one-on-one with a child in the foster care system. The work that CASA does is critical to ensuring these vulnerable youth have a chance at a normal childhood and breaking the cycle of abuse and neglect that has been in many of their families for generations.. Knowing that CASA currently has a wait list of over 250 youth who need a CASA volunteer to mentor them and advocate on their behalf in an overburdened and underfunded system is the reason that I am passionate about this organization and leading the Diversity Committee”, said Zamora.
Linda Zamora has lived in Garden Grove since 2002. She was born in Ventura and grew up in Mexico. She moved back to the USA as a teenager. Linda earned a Bachelor’s degree in Spanish Literature & Culture and a minor in Latino Health Administration from California State University Long Beach. After CSULB, she attended interpreting school and obtained her state certification as a court interpreter. Linda started her own interpreting and translation business in 2011 providing services in most languages spoken in California. Before becoming a business owner, she worked for Kaiser Permanente for close to 15 years in the Sales & Marketing department. She is an active Garden Grove community member. She served on the Garden Grove Planning Commission from 2013-2017, the Neighborhood Improvement Commission 2006-2010. She is now a board member of the Garden Grove Chamber of Commerce and Co-Chair its Government Affairs Committee. To add more meaning to her life, she loves spending time with her two dogs, reading, cooking, hiking, visiting museums and recently learning about Stoicism a philosophy that grounds her and brings her serenity.
About Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA)
Court Appointed Special Advocates of Orange County is a privately-funded non-profit organization that serves severely abused, neglected and abandoned children through the recruitment, training and continued support of volunteers who advocate and mentor these children, representing their best interest in the courtroom and other settings. Founded in 1985, with major support from the Junior League of Orange County, CASA serves approximately 700 of the children who move through the dependency court system due to being victims of abuse and neglect. We are able to serve these children through the generous support of those who donate to CASA as well as the immeasurable compassion and commitment of our CASA advocates. At CASA of Orange County, our mantra is I am for the Child. Learn more about the ways to give to CASA as a means to help us support and protect the rights of our county’s most vulnerable children and to give them the nurturing and stability that they deserve. Please visit casaoc.org to learn more.
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