Leslie López

Leslie López is a Lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC), affiliated with Oakes College and the Community Studies Department. Her roles include leading community engagement initiatives such as the Oakes Community Engagement Program (now CARA Program) and the Puentes Program for Legal Aid and Promotor training. She specializes in program design focused on immigrant justice, university-community partnerships, and critical literacies.

Education:

• B.A. and Ph.D. from UCSC

Research Interests:
Leslie’s work centers on bilingual teacher training, participatory action research, and analyzing social systems like healthcare and education. She explores political culture development for justice in Mexico and the U.S., emphasizing equitable community engagement.

Program Leadership:

• Co-founded the Corre la Voz After-school Program (UC Links)
• Developed the Writing Center at Oakes College (2011-13)
• Directed SCWIBLES (Santa Cruz-Watsonville Inquiry-Based Learning in Environmental Science)

Labs/Teams: Key contributor to the We Belong Collaboration for community-engaged research on immigrant justice.