Arnoldo Torres, Interim Chief Executive Officer

Appointed in June 2007 as the interim CEO, Arnoldo is moving aggressively to build upon, expand, and reinvigorate the agency and its programs to comprehensively meet the social, health, and mental health needs of South Sacramento's residents.

"Maap is such a remarkable agency providing vital services to South Sacramento's most vulnerable populations&and it is well understood by our Board of Directors, our management team and me that a variety of focused and concentrated efforts will enable Maap to expand and raise the quality of services that are needed by this area's homeless, HIV/AIDS, and parolee populations, as well as those with limited or no access to primary or mental health care, and those with addiction problems."

It is the vision of Mr. Torres and his management team to restructure Maap into an agency that will provide a continuum of comprehensive health and mental health services targeting South Sacramento's poor, uninsured, African-American, Asian and Latino communities.  Under Mr. Torres' leadership, Maap is moving toward full accountability, credentialed and professional services, specialized management, self-supporting programming, cross cultural competent services, and program services that will generate unrestricted revenues for the agency.  "It is imperative that we create a delivery model that is truly responsive to the needs of the South Sacramento community which is the most medically underserved area in the county and the most diverse.  Maap serves an area that has been designated by the federal government as a Medically Underserved Area and as a Health Professional Shortage Area, and this is why our efforts to build a new primary health care center is so vital.  It will expand and strengthen the work that Maap has done to date in providing basic primary health care to working poor families".

Mr. Torres is a native of Sacramento, California and earned his B.A. from the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California and his M.A. from American University in Washington, D.C.  Arnoldo served as the national executive director of the League of  United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) from 1979 to 1985 and was responsible for developing and executing its legislative agenda.  During this period, LULAC evolved into one of the most recognized voices for Hispanic political and policy concerns in the nation. He was instrumental in the debate and actions regarding the Immigration and Reform Control Act (IRCA) of 1986 concerning immigration, temporary worker rights and legalization, and was considered a national leader on legislative issues involving civil rights, immigration, education, health, economic policy impacting minorities and international concerns.

Mr. Torres is also partner in the public policy consulting firm of Torres & Torres, which primarily assists nonprofit organizations and advocates on behalf of indigent and ethic minority communities.  Mr. Torres also serves as the Executive Director for the California Hispanic Health Care Association and has developed policy initiatives that have sought to bring doctors from Mexico to serve rural, Spanish-speaking communities,   expand the cultural competency of health care professionals in California, and expand access and insurance coverage for preventive and comprehensive primary health care services to all working Californians.

Mr. Torres has been a guest on "Firing Line," "Crossfire," "CBS Morning News," "Phil Donohue," CNN, Univision, Telemundo, and TV Azteca Spanish-language networks.  Mr. Torres was also one of the original hosts of California's first Spanish-language political program, "Voz y Voto" from 1998-2005. He has appeared on Univision national news programs providing political analysis of Presidential elections, national and international political issues.  He has written op-ed articles in local and national publications such as the Chicago Tribune, Arizona Republic, U.S. News & World Report, Sacramento Bee, and Albuquerque Journal.