Public Health Communications at Scale with RPYA.Health
Building visibility, credibility, and policy relevance through strategic storytelling
When I joined RPYA.Health, I built and led the organization’s communications strategy from the ground up, guiding a rebrand and sustained storytelling approach that expanded its reach and institutional visibility.
Through audience-aware public health media and consistent campaigns, the organization strengthened its public profile and translated community-based work into statewide recognition and policy engagement.
My role
Communications Management
Team Leadership
Media Production
Building Visibility Through Youth-Centered Communications
Focus: Organizational growth & public presence
By establishing a dedicated communications function and leading a rebrand, I helped increase RPYA.Health’s visibility across California.
Through a collaborative, strengths-based team approach, campaigns were designed to speak simultaneously to young people, caregivers, and community stakeholders, positioning the organization as a trusted and legible voice in youth-centered public, behavioral, and sexual health.
RPYA.Health helps parents & caregivers of queer & trans youth to best support the young people in their lives.
Programming for young clients of all ages as well as adults in the lives of queer & trans youth.
RPYA.Health performs outreach both online and at in-person events in the Southern California region and beyond.
RPYA.Health helps parents & caregivers of queer & trans youth to best support the young people in their lives.
Featured item:
World AIDS Day
RPYA.Health grew out of the first intentionally affirming Black churches for LGBTQ+ individuals, called the Unity Fellowship of Christ Church. Founded by Archbishop Carl Bean in 1980, Unity Fellowship emerged to address the spiritual and material needs of Black LGBTQ+ people during the AIDS crisis.
This video recognizing World AIDS Day was a chance to educate young followers about the context in which RPYA.Health functions and the legacy of its foundations.
Selected social media graphics
The RPYA.Health Digital Zine Library.
Spanish was always used whenever appropriate, especially for community events.
Rebranding RPYA as RPYA.Health
As the organization expanded from after-school programming into behavioral health services, I led a rebrand to reflect that evolution. The shift to rpya.health signaled a broader public health mission while maintaining continuity with the organization’s roots in youth advocacy and community care.
Behavioral Health Services
A public-facing communications layer that made new clinical services legible, approachable, and culturally grounded for youth, families, and community partners.
Linkage to Resources
A curated referral framework connecting young people and caregivers to affirming healthcare, housing, and legal services across Southern California.
Statewide Recognition
through Public Health Communications
Focus: Public trust & institutional credibility
As RPYA.Health’s educational media expanded, its Digital Zine Library was highlighted by the California Department of Public Health as a model for community-based organizations. This recognition reflected how accessible, culturally grounded public health communications can extend impact beyond direct service delivery and into statewide practice.
The catalog provides accessible & relevant materials for young people to learn about behavioral health & wellness.
A resource for discussing HIV prevention and treatment.
Queer & Trans people have to clear more barriers on average than their straight peers. As an immigrant, the barriers are even higher. This resource was designed to help lower those barriers.
The catalog provides accessible & relevant materials for young people to learn about behavioral health & wellness.
Featured item:
Mobile Crisis Response Teams
In addition to providing resources, RPYA.Health also serves as a community node that relays critical information and amplifies the reach of partner organizations. This short-form video promotes Mobile Crisis Response Teams (CRTs) in the Riverside area. San Bernardino county has among the highest rates of Spanish-speakers in the country, so pieces like this would be made in English and Spanish.
Featured collaboration:
Never a Bother
As the communications strategy continued to gain traction, RPYA.Health was asked to participate in the Never a Bother campaign, an initiative of the California Department of Public Health to reduce suicide by encouraging youth to lean on their support systems without fear of burdening them.
Partner organizations in the campaign would transmit the messaging of Never a Bother through their own organizational lens.
From Community Voice to
Policy Engagement
Focus: Representation & civic participation
The organization’s growing public profile led to an invitation to join the LGBTQ+ Legislative Caucus Advisory Board, representing the perspectives of young people in statewide discussions. This moment underscored how sustained communications work can elevate community voices into policy spaces without losing clarity or purpose.
LGBTQ+ Caucus Advisory Board members being announced in 2024 in Sacramento. RPYA.Health was asked to represent LGBTQ+ youth.
Featured item:
RPYA.Health representing youth voices at the State
