About Us
Meet the PPSGC Members
The Prevention & Promotion Systems Governing Committee is comprised of nine members, one County partnering organization or regional entity and eight who are either County department directors and/or Initiative Executive Directors representing County departments or Board priority initiatives.
Jackie Contreras, Ph.D
Director, Department of Public Social Services (DPSS)
Jackie Contreras was appointed on February 28, 2023, to serve as Director for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services (DPSS), which administers a budget of more than $5.5B and serves over 4M residents. She remains keenly focused on the timely provision of quality services to both internal and external stakeholders, and transformational efforts to equitably promote economic mobility and well-being for everyone DPSS serves.
Prior to joining DPSS, Dr. Contreras served as a Managing Director for Casey Family Programs’ direct service offices, where she led policy and practice efforts that included the development and implementation of a functional assessment and a culturally responsive, family-centered practice model grounded in trauma-and healing-informed care. Additionally, she served in various capacities as a child welfare administrator for the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services, and worked as a psychologist and manager for the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.
Dr. Contreras received her B.A. in psychology from UCLA and her M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant University.
Brandon T. Nichols
Director, Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS)
Brandon T. Nichols received his Bachelor’s degree in Law and Society from the University of California Santa Barbara and his Juris Doctor degree in 1996 from the California Western School of Law in San Diego.
Mr. Nichols was hired by the County of Los Angeles in 1999 where he spent 15 years with County Counsel primarily assigned to represent and provide legal advice to the Board of Supervisors and the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). While with County Counsel, he served as lead attorney on the Katie A. v. Bonta class action lawsuit, for the County’s Homeless Initiative, and represented the County in negotiating a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over mental health services and conditions in the County jails.
With an expertise in child welfare, foster care, adoptions, and mental health, Mr. Nichols joined DCFS as Senior Deputy Director from 2012 - 2013 with primary responsibility for overseeing the Risk Management and Litigation Management divisions and handling sensitive department-wide critical issues.
In April 2016, he was appointed to Chief Deputy Director of DCFS and managed all DCFS operations. During his time as Chief Deputy Director, Director Nichols led the County’s implementation of Continuum of Care Reform, a multi-year, state-wide change designed to reduce the use of congregate care and ensure children live in family-like settings when they are unable to safely remain with their parents. Additionally, Director Nichols advocated on behalf of children at legislative hearings with local, state and federal agencies and worked closely with a diverse network of community partners. He also has worked for the Probation Department and, most recently, the Chief Executive Office. In his last position, as the Executive Director of the County's Jail Closure Implementation Team, he played a significant role in efforts to develop mental health services and other supports for people incarcerated in county jails as part of Los Angeles County’s commitment to de-carcerating and closing the Men's Central Jail.
Following a six-month nationwide search process, on July 1, 2022 the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors appointed Brandon T. Nichols to the role of DCFS Director.
Director Nichols, who had been serving in the role of Interim Director since April, indicated that his primary areas of focus at the outset of his tenure will be ensuring child safety, advancing race equity efforts and providing accessible, quality support to families.
Fesia Davenport
Chief Executive Officer, Chief Executive Office (CEO)
Fesia Davenport was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Los Angeles County in January 2021. She is responsible for managing the strategic direction and day-to-day operations of the nation’s largest county government, including the oversight of Los Angeles County’s $46 billion- plus budget and coordinating implementation of key priorities of the Board of Supervisors.
In a County career spanning more than two decades, she has successfully facilitated cross-departmental, public-private, and intergovernmental collaborative efforts aimed at implementing a range of major initiatives involving data sharing to prevent homelessness and track outcomes for justice involved individuals, probation reform, and providing legal defense services for undocumented residents at risk of imminent removal. She also played a leadership role in the launch of several new organizational units within the County, including the Office of Child Protection, the Center for Strategic Partnerships, the Office of Immigrant Affairs, the Chief Sustainability Office and the Women and Girls Initiative.
As Chief Executive Officer, under the direction of the Board of Supervisors, she has led LA County’s response to and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic across multiple departments, overseeing $1.22 billion in CARES Act funding and $1.9 billion in American Rescue Plan Act funding to bring urgently needed equity-focused assistance to residents, small businesses and hard-hit communities. She is responsible for leading the County in carrying out a series of transformative Board-directed initiatives, including the Anti-Racism, Diversity and Inclusion Initiative and the Poverty Alleviation Initiative, both housed in the CEO’s office.
At the Board’s direction, she coordinated across multiple County departments in a successful landmark effort to return the valuable oceanfront property known as Bruce’s Beach to the rightful descendants of the family that had been wrongfully stripped of their property 100 years ago. CEO Davenport has also been instrumental in establishing the Board’s Care First, Jails Last vision as a budgetary and operational policy, and in assisting with the launch of an unprecedented four new County departments in a single year.
Prior to her appointment as CEO, she served as acting CEO; Chief Operating Officer and Assistant Chief Executive Officer overseeing the CEO’s Strategic Integration Branch; Interim Director of the Office of Child Protection; Chief Deputy Director of the Department of Children and Family Services; and Chief Attorney/Chief Deputy of the Child Support Services Department.
A graduate of Cal State Long Beach, she earned a master’s degree in public administration from Cal State Northridge and a law degree from the University of California, Hastings College of Law. Ms. Davenport is passionate about history, especially family history, and when she is not working on behalf of Los Angeles County, you can find her on genealogical websites or perhaps at a touring production of “Hamilton,” which she has seen six times—so far.
Barbara Ferrer, PhD, MPH, MEd
Director, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (DPH)
Dr. Barbara Ferrer is a nationally recognized public health leader with over 40 years’ experience as a public health director, educational leader, researcher, philanthropic strategist, and community advocate.
Currently, as the Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, which prevents disease and promotes health equity and well-being among more than 10 million county residents, Dr. Ferrer oversees a budget of $2 billion, directs a workforce of 4,600 staff, and works to integrate services with the County Mental Health and Health Services Departments. She guides the region’s COVID-19 pandemic response in collaboration with county and community-based partners.
Prior to directing the LA County Public Health Department, Dr. Ferrer spent decades leading public health efforts in Massachusetts. She served as the Executive Director of the Boston Public Health Commission, the city’s health department where, under her leadership, the City of Boston saw significant improvements in health outcomes, including a decrease in rates of childhood obesity, smoking, and infant mortality.
Dr. Ferrer also held leadership positions at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, including Director of Health Promotion & Chronic Disease Prevention, and Director of the Division of Maternal & Child Health.
As a headmaster of a district high school in Boston, Dr. Ferrer secured funding from the Gates Foundation to amplify services and supports for students; over 90% of students graduated and of those graduating, 95% gained admission to college.
Dr. Ferrer also served as the Chief Strategy Officer for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, overseeing programming and mission-driven investments.
Dr. Ferrer received her Ph.D. from Brandeis University where she was awarded a PEW fellowship in Health Policy. She also holds a Master’s in Public Health from Boston University, Master’s in Education from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and Bachelor of Arts degree in Community Studies from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Peter Loo
Chief Information Officer, Chief Information Office (CIO)
Peter Loo is the Chief Information Officer of the County of Los Angeles. With over 35 years of public sector IT experience, he serves as the principal advisor to the CEO and provides strategy, leadership and guidance on enterprise IT initiatives, IT Governance, and the delivery of information technology capabilities to support the County mission. Mr. Loo is also responsible for the County’s Information Management and Information Security Programs.
Lisa Wong
Director, Department of Mental Health (DMH)
Lisa Wong, Psy.D., is the Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH) as of February 28, 2023, after serving as Interim Director since July 2022. Prior to this role, Dr. Wong was LACDMH’s Senior Deputy Director overseeing the Department’s clinical programs and community-based services over a broad range of settings throughout Los Angeles County.
Concurrent with her Senior Deputy Director role, Dr. Wong was also the interim Chief of the Full-Service Partnership (FSP) program, a 24/7 intensive outpatient service aimed at helping clients at risk for homelessness, incarceration, and hospitalization, among other negative life outcomes.
Starting in the County as a student over 30 years ago, Dr. Wong spent more than two decades working in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles providing care to some of the County’s most vulnerable and high-risk individuals experiencing serious mental illness and homelessness. Prior to her current role, she served as the Mental Health Clinical Program Head Over Downtown Mental Health Center general outpatient services, CalWORKs/GROW, and Prevention & Early Intervention programs before becoming a Service Area Chief over Service Areas 2 and 3. Dr. Wong has also served as Acting Chief for Outpatient Services.
Dr. Wong earned her Psy.D. from the Pacifica Graduate Institute and her M.A. in clinical psychology from California State University, Los Angeles, and she is a lifelong advocate for vulnerable populations and social justice issues.
Karla Pleitéz
Executive Director, First 5 LA (FSLA)
Karla Pleitéz Howell serves as First 5 LA’s president and CEO, guiding implementation of its overall strategy and vision for building a future where every child is born healthy and thrives in nurturing, safe and loving communities. Since joining the organization in 2023, Karla has led First 5 LA to adopt its new 2024-2029 strategic plan that marks a significant milestone for the organization’s path toward creating the greatest possible impact for LA County’s youngest children and their families. First 5 LA’s new strategic plan focuses on goals to collectively build toward ensuring that children’s and families’ basic needs, psychological needs and self-fulfillment needs are prioritized, and it leans into the power of partnership, driven by the belief that together we can create a brighter, more equitable future for our youngest children.
Karla believes that every child has the potential to thrive, and she has dedicated her career to creating a future where young children and their families are prioritized in Los Angeles County and across the state. Karla centers racial justice and equity in her work, advancing community partnerships and innovating strategies to increase and target resources to address structural inequities.
Karla began her career as an attorney providing legal services for families, which included leading a coalition in the southeast cities of Los Angeles County to increase green space and educational opportunities for young children. She transitioned to work on policy advocacy, joining Advancement Project California (now Catalyst California), where she served as director of education, managing director, and chief of policy and programs. There, Karla worked to bring coalitions together to increase child care facilities funding, improve quality in Transitional Kindergarten programs and expand access to child care for California’s youngest learners. In partnership with audacious community partners, Karla’s advocacy has helped direct billions of dollars in investments communities with low incomes.
Prior to First 5 LA, Karla served as branch chief for the Child Care Development Division with the California Department of Social Services. In that role, Karla led efforts to develop the Division’s strategic plan and improve administrative efficiencies. Karla also oversaw the strategic direction and development of the $350 million Infrastructure Grant Program and the state’s child care rate reform initiative.
Karla earned her Bachelor of Arts from UCLA and holds a Juris Doctor from UC Hastings. On weekends, Karla enjoys the outdoors with her husband and family and loves to listen to the latest humorous philosophical ponderings from their two kids.
Cheri Todoroff
Executive Director, LA County Homelessness Initiative (HI)
Cheri Todoroff assumed leadership of the Los Angeles County Homeless Initiative effective April 1, 2021. She previously served as the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services (DHS) Director of Community Programs, overseeing the development and implementation of community-based health, social, and housing programs and services for people experiencing homelessness and/or have been involved with the justice system who have complex health and/or behavioral health conditions. She holds a Master of Public Health degree from UCLA and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology from UC Berkeley.
D'Artagnan Scorza
Executive Director, Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion (ARDI)
Dr. D’Artagnan Scorza is the inaugural Executive Director of Racial Equity for Los Angeles County overseeing the Anti-Racism, Diversity, and Inclusion (ARDI) Initiative and working to expand the County’s work on anti-racism, equity, and inclusion.
The Inglewood, CA native brings years of experience to his role as a national expert on issues focused on poverty, education and public health. Currently, a lecturer in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health, Dr. Scorza works prepares students to apply community organizing to center community voice and change health policy.
Previously, Dr. Scorza served 14 years as the Executive Director and Founder of the Social Justice Learning Institute (SJLI) leading health, environmental, housing and educational justice. He was a Business Alliance for Local Living Economy Fellow (BALLE), an Education Pioneers Fellow, a UC Regent Emeritus and a former President of the Board of Education for the Inglewood Unified School District. In these positions, he worked to launch programs that helped youth of color become social justice leaders and college graduates, passed policies that prioritized $160 million for student services across UC campuses, and secured $350 million to support school construction for K-12 schools.
A U.S. Navy Iraq-War Veteran and civic leader, he has been recognized as one of the 40 Emerging Civic Leaders under 40 in 2018 and received the UCLA Recent Graduate Achievement Award in 2016.
Dr. Scorza attended both UCLA and National University and earned his Ph.D. in Education from UCLA. His work is cited in multiple publications including The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, and you can hear him in several podcasts.