Email: Vince_at_preventioninstitute_dot_org

Vince Leus, MURP (He/Him/His), is a Program Coordinator working on Prevention Institute’s state-level policy advocacy in California and supporting community safety initiatives. Vince is passionate about working at the intersections of health, policy, and grassroots collaboration. He brings valuable experience as a community organizer and health advocate, having previously organized residents in Los Angeles’s Koreatown, Chinatown, and East Hollywood neighborhoods to fight for equitable development at City Planning Department hearings. In tandem with his organizing work, Vince also collaborated with prevention service providers and residents to advocate for more community control over alcohol licensing in Los Angeles. Because of these experiences, he is passionate about understanding how policy and planning practices that directly address the needs of marginalized communities can aid in creating healthy communities. Vince received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from UC Riverside and is a graduate of the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs’ Master of Urban and Regional Planning Program. As part of his master’s capstone project, Vince conducted qualitative research and spatial analysis on park access to understand how schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District could serve as community parks in park poor neighborhoods, developing a policy menu to establish a streamlined process to open up school recreational facilities for public use. Vince was born and raised in the Bay Area and loves board games, picnics, and attempting to cook new food recipes.