Bridging the gap between healthcare and houselessness
Shefali Varma
CEO, Co-Founder
Shefali is a recent UCLA graduate who majored in Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology and minored in Biomedical Research and Community Engagement and Social Change. She is one of the founding directors for Project Lux nonprofit, and she previously served as the President for the UCLA chapter. She founded Project Lux in order to create a difference in a community after witnessing the disparities present within healthcare for unhoused populations. She is dedicated to creating a lasting change in her community and hopes to continue her work as a physician in the future.
Johan Carrascoza
Co-Founder
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Johan recently graduated from UCLA who majored Human Biology and Society major and Brain and Behavioral Health minor at UCLA. He is one of the founding directors for Project Lux and its UCLA chapter. He is passionate about analyzing real world problems through an interdisciplinary lens, especially the mental health struggles of the homeless community. In the future, Johan aspires to attend medical school and work toward improving pharmaceutical and societal framework for the mental health of others.
Bridging the gap between healthcare and houselessness
Bridging the gap between healthcare and houselessness
Bridging the gap between healthcare and houselessness
Dr. Zack Ritter received his Ph.D. from UCLA in Higher Education, researching racial stereotypes of Asian International Students, worked at American Jewish University as a Career Center Director, University of Redlands as an Assistant Director of Diversity, Harvey Mudd College as Associate Dean of Institutional Diversity, and is now at Cal State Dominguez Hills as Associate Dean of Students.
Dr. Ritter is an adjunct professor at Cal State Dominguez Hills and UCLA. He has co-authored two books, Marginality in the Urban Center: The Costs and Challenges of Continued Whiteness in the Americas and Beyond; and Whiteness, and Power and Resisting Change in US Higher Education: A Peculiar Institution.
Dr. Ritter has also written on Jewish and Black solidarity movements and is a Diversity Consultant at Staten Consulting Group, helping schools, businesses, and orgs imagine how to create more inclusive cultures and systems.
Dr. Brian Downs, Family Medicine
Dr. Brian Downs is a physician that has been working with St. John's Well Child and Family Center in South Central LA for countless years. He has experience working with insured and uninsured patients, and he has witnessed firsthand the issues that multiple issues homeless individuals face with healthcare access.
Dr. Brian Downs also has experience working at Henry Mayo Newhall Hospital. He has been practicing for many years, and he brings his rich experiences to our Advisory Board.
Check out our Project Lux chapter at UCLA here!
Our Advisory Board
Thomas Ray Garcia
Mr. Thomas Ray Garcia attended Princeton University where he co-founded the Princeton Hidden Minority Council, an award-winning organization servicing first-generation and low-income students, and wrote student blogs for the Office of Undergraduate Admission. A Gates Millennium Scholar, Teach For America Rising Leaders Fellow, and Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow, Mr. Garcia has combined his experiences in academic research with hands-on pedagogy. He majored in English with an interest in creative writing, literary criticism, and post-secondary education studies.
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Mr. Garcia founded CSLAP in 2013. He created and taught the University Scholars Enrichment Course, an extension of CSLAP, at PSJA ISD. With over 5 years of teaching experience at the high school and college levels, Mr. Garcia has incorporated CSLAP as a 501(c)3 nonprofit to teach college access lessons at RGV high schools and connect students to near-peer mentors.
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He is currently pursuing an English PhD at UCLA, writing short stories and poems on the U.S.-Mexico borderlands, and serving as CSLAP's executive director.
Our Board
Brandon Truong
Executive Director
I joined Project Lux at UCLA in 2020! I wanted to engage with the LA unhoused community and make a difference no matter how small. Fun fact: my birthday is Star Wars Day!
Shefali
CEO & Co-Founder
Shefali is one of the founding directors for Project Lux nonprofit, and she previously served as the President for the UCLA chapter. She founded Project Lux in order to create a difference in a community after witnessing the disparities present within healthcare for unhoused populations.
Johaan
Co-Founder
Johan is one of the founding directors for Project Lux and its UCLA chapter. He is passionate about analyzing real world problems through an interdisciplinary lens, especially the mental health struggles of the homeless community.
Ila Youssefi
Board Member
Suhasini Guttalu is part of the UCR Project Lux chapter and hails from Cerritos, California. She joined Project Lux to work with and assist underprivileged communities in the Inland Empire. A fun fact about Suhasini is that she played basketball for nine years!
William Seng
Board Member
William Seng is the current president of the USC Project Lux chapter. Going to school in downtown LA, he was constantly reminded of the large unhoused population and the many struggles they must go through. Project Lux appealed to him because he found it very fulfilling to be face to face with the people he is helping. A fun fact about William is that he skipped kindergarten!
Joellen Bragasin
Board Member
Description
Chapter Highlights
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Santa Monica Care Package Distribution
2024
The UCLA chapter received a $6,000 grant to create care packages for the unhoused community and distribute them throughout the Los Angeles area.
Members of the UCLA Project Lux chapter participated in UCLA's annual enormous activities fair (EAF) and servocacy fest to educate the student population on houselessness. They dispel many misconceptions through a fun game of jeopardy!
Skid Row Refresh Spot Health Insurance Enrollment Fair
2024
UCLA Project Lux's care package committee spent a day in Santa Monica distributing care packages to the unhoused community.
Care Package Grant
2023
2024
EAF + Servocacy Fest
