Celina serves as our Arizona CSSJ Statewide Manager. Celina’s passion for community service and the spirit of collaboration began in her youth. As a teen, she started her work in community programs, volunteering at public schools as a youth program assistant and at the local YMCA as the youth art coordinator, supporting programs to garner a safe space for youth otherwise displaced by community and family trauma.
After primarily working within military legislation and lending her voice to what is now the 2018 Military Families Protections Act (MFPA), Celina began to bridge her legislative efforts to create better practices in civilian legislation—supporting local AZ legislators in collaboration with the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence (ACESDV). Later, Celina helped Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice (CSSJ) in a victorious 2021-2022 legislative cycle, in which CSSJ had (2) bills signed into law HB 2604: Domestic Violence-emergency orders of protection and HB 2594: trauma recovery centers; grants.
Her work continues in community collaboration by expanding her advocacy to revisit her work in community crisis prevention while supporting best practices for system servicing trauma.
