Aurora began her public health career in tobacco control as the USC Hispanic/Latino Tobacco Education Network (H/LaTEN) Membership Coordinator where she worked on countering pro-tobacco marketing and advertising, tobacco sponsorship and youth leadership development. In this role she participated in annual legislative visits, presented at local and national tobacco conferences and served as a media spokesperson. After three years with H/LaTEN, Aurora transitioned to the National Cancer Institute’s Cancer Information Service as program coordinator and provided training and technical assistance on effective methods for reaching medically underserved populations with cancer-related information.
Aurora has also worked in childhood obesity prevention as the project coordinator for The California Endowment’s Healthy Eating, Active Communities (HEAC) statewide project. She was responsible for developing, implementing, and evaluating policy initiatives that provided access to food and physical activity opportunities in schools and communities. Most recently, she was project manager for the USC ADEPT project, a statewide tobacco information dissemination initiative working with Hispanic/Latino and Native American communities.
As TEAM Lab evaluator, Aurora is responsible for providing guidance on the evaluation of training and technical assistance provided by TEAM Lab, and is involved with developing culturally and linguistically appropriate tobacco education materials. She also oversees the implementation and evaluation of a statewide needs assessment of California Tobacco Control Program-funded programs to inform and better guide TEAM Lab training and services.
Aurora has Master’s degree in Public Health with a concentration in Health Education and Promotion from the University of Southern California.