CHIEF EMPATHY OFFICER

Corinna Espino has a lifelong career of supporting growth on an individual and societal level, demonstrating her life-long commitment to this practice. She is a macro-focused social worker in Richmond, California.

 

Her foundational social work experience focused on children and youth in the education environment, managing tutoring and after-school programs that assisted with social-emotional learning. Her international social work experience in the Dominican Republic, Guatemala, and India beginning in 2007. In early 2009 she was certified as a mediator and then focused on youth development with direct practice work involving adjudicated youth, youth in group homes supporting mental health, vulnerable youth in the Los Angeles Unified School District, and Roseland Unified School District, as well as legal aid and advocacy for homeless families in Los Angeles.

 

Her passion for macro work emerged in 2014 when she developed training for law students at a pro-bono law project in Los Angeles and conducted over 20 professional development training sessions at Los Angeles Unified School District. The focus of these curricula includes social-emotional learning, conflict resolution, crisis intervention, trauma-informed practices, interpersonal skill-building, and policy advocacy.

 

In the conclusion of her second year of graduate school, Corinna received the Madeline Stoner and Ralph Fertig CSWA Social Work Scholar Award and the USC School of Social Work Lillian Hawthorne Award of Excellence in Field Education for her landmark policy work supporting youth vulnerable to child sex trafficking in the Los Angeles Unified School District.

 

She worked as the Director of Student Support Services at East Bay Center for the Performing Arts, she expanded her repertoire of topics to include child development, culturally responsive teaching and organizational practices, equitable practices, amongst many others. She currently manages the Contra Costa County CSEC Services Program for Children and Family Services. Beyond this, Corinna loves making music, visual arts, cooking, traveling, and developing her mindfulness practice. She connects with yoga and meditation and is committed to creating a more empathetic world and truly values the inherent dignity of each individual.