LOS ANGELES —Brenda Salas Freeman, Deputy Director of the Riverside County Department of Public Health and Executive Director of the Communty Action Partnership of Riverside County graduated from the University of Southern California on Thursday with her Doctorate, with an emphasis in Organizational Change and Leadership.

Public Health promotes and protects the health of all Riveside County residents and visitors in service of the well-being of the community.

Salas Freeman earned a bachelors and master degree from the University of Redlands and was a Bush Scholar at Syracuse University in New York earning a second Masters Degree.

Salas Freeman is the oldest daughter of the late Joe Salas  and  Louise Lopez. She is married to former Riverside County official Tom Freeman.

“ I have many people to thank for helping me along the way to earned this degree. My parents,  my husband Tom, and the county  leadership team, Salas Freeman told Uken Report. As the granddaughter of immigrants from Mexico I am proud to have earned this academic honor and hope to inspire others to pursue their education.”

She leads the county’s award-winning, poverty-fighting agency, The Community Action Partnership. With a staff of 70 workers and 1,200 volunteers, the department provides services across all 28 cities and the county unincorporated areas.

County of Riverside Community Action is a member of a national network of over 1,100 Community Action Agencies (CAAs) across the United States. Community Action was established under the presidency of Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1964 as a part of the “War on Poverty.” Community Action relies on partners, volunteers and in-kind services to leverage the federal funding. The staff and volunteers serve the vast county, which runs 250 miles from Orange County to the Arizona border.

She has held a number of leadership posts with various charities and has earned honors as Latina of the Year for the  Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Woman of the Year for the Fifth Supervisorial District .