Carmela Castellano-Garcia

Carmela Castellano-Garcia, Esq., is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the California Primary Care Association (CPCA), a membership association of more than 1,200 nonprofit, community clinics and health centers which serve more than 6.2 million patients a year. Since joining the organization in 1997, she has worked to promote multi-cultural health policy at the state and national level, providing leadership and advocacy on issues such as cultural and linguistic competency in health care delivery, ensuring the viability of safety net providers, health care reform, and access to care for vulnerable populations.

Prior to joining CPCA, Carmela served as Founder and Executive Director of Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (LCHC), a health care policy and advocacy organization that advances the goals of health equity, health care reform, and access to health care for the state’s growing Latino population.

Ms. Castellano-Garcia’s legal background includes six years as a Staff Attorney and Managing Attorney with Public Advocates, Inc., a public interest law firm in San Francisco where she litigated cases dealing with issues of employment discrimination, insurance redlining, and ensuring internet access for California’s minority and low-income populations.

In 2012, Carmela joined the board of the Castellano Family Foundation and currently serves as its President.  Founded by her parents, Alcario and Carmen Castellano, the foundation has awarded $5 million in the last 15 years to support local nonprofits that address Latino education, arts and culture, leadership development and diversity.

Ms. Castellano-Garcia serves on numerous nonprofit boards and advisory committees including the California Health Information Partnership and Services Organization (CalHIPSO), Health Initiative of the Americas (HIA), California Health Workforce Alliance (CHWA) and Oral Health Access Council (OHAC).  She is a former board member of the Public Health Institute, Chicana Latina Foundation, Public Advocates, and the Mission Neighborhood Health Center.

Carmela is a graduate of Yale Law School and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from the University of California at Berkeley. While in college, she completed a year of study at La Universidad Central de Venezuela as a Rotary Foundation International Scholar.