Joseph Cachuela, Esq. – General Counsel

Joey most recently served as Senior Counsel and Director of Legal Advocacy for the California Medical Association (CMA), focusing on healthcare policy, litigation, legislative advocacy, and a wide array of health law regulatory issues. Prior to joining CMA, he was a senior associate at a boutique law firm specializing in healthcare reimbursement litigation. He served for seven years as a Judge Advocate in the U.S. Air Force, as both regional counsel to the Air Force's medical centers and joint VA health centers in California and Washington, and as a federal prosecutor. In 2017, he deployed to Afghanistan as part of a joint expeditionary taskforce with the U.S. Army's First Cavalry Division, where he served as the in-country legal advisor for the gross violation of human rights and the Chief of Administrative Law for United States Forces-Afghanistan. Joey received his undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. Read more here.

Dennis Cuevas-Romero – Vice President of Government Affairs

Dennis most recently served as the Director of Government Relations for Physicians for a Healthy California (PHC) and the California Medical Association (CMA), where he provided strategic guidance and direction for PHC’s legislative and budget advocacy. His work at CMA included managing the organization’s portfolio on workforce development, public health, licensing, and medical board/medical staff issues. Prior to joining the CMA, Dennis worked at the ACLU Center for Advocacy and Policy working on police practices and homelessness issues. Dennis was also appointed by former Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. as the deputy director for legislation at the California Department of Consumer Affairs. Over his time as a public policy advocate, Dennis has helped enact more than 25 pieces of legislation into law. He is most proud of his work on reducing the adverse immigration consequences related to one-year misdemeanor convictions, fighting for overtime rights for domestic workers, and helping pass one of the strongest sexual health education laws in the country. Dennis has a bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley and a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from the University of the Pacific, McGeorge School of Law. Read More Here.

Araceli Valencia – Program Coordinator of Health Professions Education

Araceli Valencia has joined the Workforce Development team as CPCA’s new Program Coordinator of Health Professions Education! Prior to joining CPCA, Araceli worked with multiple non-profits such as Her Health First, Building Healthy Communities and the La Familia Counseling Center to promote and distribute COVID-19 relief funds while providing navigation services within the Sacramento County.  Her expertise has focused on developing and analyzing strategies to improve socio-economic disadvantaged communities within Sacramento.  As a CPCA staff member, Araceli will coordinate HRSA’s Health Professionals Education & Training initiatives to increase California health centers’ capacity to develop their workforce through robust health professions training programs. Outside of work, Araceli is a hiker who enjoys traveling, sewing, and cooking new recipes!

Raquel Henriquez - Dream Intern

Raquel is a senior at UC Santa Cruz where she is majoring in Environmental Studies and Biology. She is a first-generation college student and is originally from El Salvador but grew up within the Bay Area. Some of her passions include social justice and education which drive her hope to someday work within her fields of study in a way that promotes equity. At CPCA she hopes to learn more about some of these themes and continue to strengthen her professional skills. Outside of school, she enjoys working out and event planning.

Kevin Quach – Workforce Intern/Workforce Development Assistant

Kevin is a recent graduate from Yale University where he earned a B.S. in Psychology and History of Science, Medicine, and Public Health. He is also a rising second-year MPH candidate concentrating in Health Policy at the Yale School of Public Health where he was admitted through Yale's joint 5-year BA/BS-MPH program. He is broadly interested in advancing health equity for marginalized communities through advocating for health and social policies that increase access to quality care and address various social determinants of health. In the future, he hopes to become a family nurse practitioner and provide clinical care at a community health center to serve historically marginalized communities in the Bay Area while also advocating for policies that impact his patients. At CPCA, he hopes to learn more about the health and social needs of underserved communities in California and how community health centers can be further strengthened to address those needs. He also hopes to further build his skills in policy research and analysis and health advocacy. In his free time, Kevin enjoys cooking and baking Vietnamese cuisine, catching sunsets up in the hills of his hometown, and exploring film photography.

Jesus Torres - Data Intern/Program Coordinator of Data Science

Jesus is a recent graduate from UC Berkeley, where he majored in Public Health. He strives to use his knowledge of data analysis to provide an equitable platform for the underrepresented communities amongst us. At CPCA, he hopes to learn how he can use data analysis to create infographics, visual presentations, and resource interventions for various underrepresented communities in California. Aside from that, Jesus enjoys his time outdoors playing soccer, cycling, and landscape photography.

Walker Woodard - Oral Health and Risk Management Intern/Emergency Management Assistant

Walker graduated from UC Riverside in June 2022, where he majored in Biology and researched in the Biomedical Sciences. He hopes to translate his experience in biomedical research, university advancement, and community engagement to support the expanding primary care system. He’s passionate about increasing access to health resources and reducing health inequalities in historically neglected communities. Through his time at CPCA, he is interested in gaining insight and expanding his perspective of the health field to help facilitate collaboration across health sectors. Through his background, Walker has seen the benefits of mentorship and spent his last three years mentoring first-generation college students in the STEM field. In his free time, he enjoys tennis, hiking, and visiting national parks (his resolution is to visit all nine California national parks this year, only four left!).