Our Team
Dr. Elynar Moreno, Founder, Executive Director
Dr. Elynar Moreno is a consultant and coach who specializes in working with First Generation Professionals. She created The MorenoMethod which focuses on developing core skills designed to improve their professional and personal lives.
Dr. Moreno has over 17 years experience in higher education administration, management, counseling, and career planning. She has been teaching for over 9 years and specializes in utilizing strengths-based student success strategies and culturally responsive teaching and learning practices.
Dr. Moreno is a first-generation college graduate and began her higher education journey at her hometown’s community college. She transferred to UCLA where she earned her bachelor’s degree in Sociology.
Dr. Moreno went on to receive a Master’s in Social Welfare at UCLA’s Luskin School of Public Affairs. She earned her doctorate in Higher Education Leadership Management from California Lutheran University. She is passionate about empowering the lives of those she encounters and is committed to helping them attain their definition of success.
Alexandra Mapp, MPH, Director of Research and Development
Alexandra Mapp is a career trained evaluator with over 10 years of evaluation research experience. She specializes in developing effective assessment and decision-making skills without sacrificing the human aspect of the community that is being served.
Alexandra’s diverse academic endeavors have afforded her the opportunity to build a foundation rich in social justice, policy, and public health. She has her bachelor’s degree in Social Ecology from UC Irvine and her Master’s in Public Health, with a focus on Health Management and Policy, from Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health.
Being inquisitive by nature, she has a vested interest in exploring solutions to health disparities and social inequities through the medium of research, policy, and community engagement.
Leilani Wright, Operations Manager
Leilani Wright is an alumna LASC, where she completed her pre-requisites for graduate school, and an alumna of CSUDH with a bachelor’s degree in Public Administration. She handles day-to-day operations, processes applications, and acquires resources to provide to our participants.
Leilani has twelve years of experience working with children with disabilities, particularly Autism, and at-risk high school students. She is dedicated to the outreach and success of our future leaders. She currently holds a position as Administration Assistant and is well versed in project management.
Leilani is a first-generation college graduate and looks forward to assisting future first gens on their educational path.
Penny Davis, Public Relations Aide
Penny Davis is a senior at Middle College High School in Los Angeles, California, where she participated in the dual-enrollment program at LASC which and has earned her Associates Degrees in Liberal Arts and Interdisciplinary Studies.
Penny is a soon to be podcaster, tarot reader, and is active in extra-curricular activities, including her involvement with a leadership program called Legacy Ladies, to assist her in her journey as she transforms into the confident and knowledgeable individual who will be a leader and active member of society in the future.
For as long as she’s had the ability to do so, Penny has always dreamed about becoming a writer. As she took classes in subjects that opened her eyes to inequality and social justice, her aspirations have grown and developed. Now it is her mission to be the voice for those who can’t or don’t know how to use their own.