Vanessa La Torre

Vanessa La Torre is currently the Youth Education and Wellness Manager at Latino Network, a cultural-specific community based organization serving the Latino Community in Multnomah and Washington County.

Vanessa La Torre Vanessa has been instrumental in bringing comprehensive sexuality education to Latino Network and making it a core value of the organization. She started this effort in 2014-2015, providing workshops and training to Latino parents and families.

She was part of the team that made Latino cultural adaptations as well as LGBTQ inclusiveness adaptations to Making Proud Choices, the curriculum for the trainings, ensuring it resonated for all our youth. As a result, she has become the resident Making Proud Choices trainer for future facilitators, allowing Latino Network to train more than 40 facilitators both from our agency and external partners.

Vanessa understands the cultural nuances facilitators might face when teaching. She is also the lead on enhancing the existing sexuality education curriculum for Latino parents, in particular, adding a lesson plan on gender and orientation. She has coordinated and led an agency-wide LGBTQ inclusivity training in partnership with SMYRC, creating an impact that reaches far into the community.

Vanessa earned a master’s degree in public health from Portland State University, and is a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES®). She enjoys speaking to and advocating for inclusion and diversity, especially as it relates to health equity and educational justice.

Vanessa is a proud first generation Peruvian-American who credits her passion for health promotion and education to her first health educator and advocate – her mom. She enjoys being active in nature, watching movies, and above all – being surrounded by her family and friends.