Paula Torrado Plazas, MPH, has served since June 2023 as OEHHA’s Office of Environmental Health Education, Community Engagement, and Cumulative Impacts Science Program Director. In this role, Paula leads OEHHA’s ECC program and coordinates, develops, evaluates, and recommends strategies and policies for advancing them at OEHHA. She is OEHHA’s Tribal and Environmental Justice liaison to CalEPA and external partners.
Paula was born in Colombia and is a proud Latina immigrant whose upbringing shaped her understanding of social justice. She has over 7 years of experience working in and with environmental justice communities in Houston and Los Angeles. She is passionate about addressing pollution burdens and bringing relief to low-income and people of color communities who are often over exposed to toxic chemical and air pollution. Prior to joining OEHHA, Paula worked at Physicians for Social Responsibility - Los Angeles as the Health and Environment Program Manager where she was a project manager with experience in coalition building, health science education, community air monitoring and analysis, community science, and environmental justice policy advocacy.
Paula received her Master of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and was part of the Bloomberg American Health Initiative Fellowship. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Earth and Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Houston.