AM Session 1: Meet our Presenters

Dr. Tiffany Ortiz is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist specializing in work with children and families, with a deep commitment to equity, diversity, and culturally responsive mental health care. She is endorsed as an Infant, Family, and Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist and Reflective Practice Facilitator II, and is an alumna of the Napa Infant-Parent Mental Health Fellowship and the UCLA Early Childhood Fellowship.

Dr. Ortiz brings extensive experience across community mental health clinics, hospitals, school-based programs, and private practice, primarily serving historically underserved communities. Her work has focused on supporting Native American and Indigenous families, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities, Latinx populations, and immigrant families navigating systemic barriers to care. She specializes in early childhood mental health, trauma-informed care, and culturally attuned psychodiagnostic and psychoeducational assessment.

As a Community Psychologist at El Centro de Amistad in Los Angeles County, Dr. Ortiz leads the Doctoral Training Program, mentoring emerging clinicians to provide thoughtful, equity-centered care. Her work is grounded in a relational and multicultural framework, emphasizing attachment, family systems, and the broader community context. In times of uncertainty, she is dedicated to strengthening resilience, fostering connection, and supporting healing within families and communities.

Emeli Villanueva is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist whose work is rooted in the belief that healing begins in our earliest relationships. She currently serves as a Mental Health Specialist at El Centro de Amistad as part of a SAMHSA-funded program, where she supports young children, families, and communities through culturally responsive and relationship-based care.

Born and raised in Los Angeles within a Salvadoran Latino community, her passion for supporting children and families grew from both personal experience and professional dedication to addressing disparities in mental health and education. Emeli holds degrees in Early Childhood Education and Child Development from Los Angeles City College and California State University, Los Angeles, and earned her master’s in clinical psychology from Pepperdine University. 

Through her training in the California Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation Program and the UCLA-DMH Early Childhood Fellowship, she has deepened her commitment to reflective practice and culturally responsive care. Today, she is honored to support caregivers and clinicians in strengthening the relationships that shape a child’s lifelong sense of safety, connection, and belonging.

With over a decade of experience in school-based settings, Emeli has worked alongside young children, families, and educators—supporting emotional development, co-regulation, and meaningful connection across home and school environments.