A CLAPR Initiative
Community Pulse on Public Policy
The Community Pulse on Public Policy (CPPP) brings community voices and lived experiences into public policy conversations. By connecting research with practitioners, advocates, service providers, and community members, CPPP broadens the definition of expertise and helps ensure that public policy reflects the people it affects.
Climate Vulnerability in Arizona
This policy brief examines climate vulnerability in Arizona, with a focus on extreme heat, water stress, flood risk, data center growth, and environmental justice. It highlights how climate impacts are felt unevenly across communities, especially among low-income residents, communities of color, renters, and outdoor workers. The brief also points to local solutions, including cooling centers, expanded shade and tree canopy, stronger workplace heat protections, flood preparedness, and community-led resilience efforts.
Click here to view the full briefMeet our panelists
Our panelists bring expertise in climate justice, sustainability, energy equity, urban heat, youth engagement, and community resilience.
Amy Scoville-Weaver
Director, Healthy Cities Team
The Nature Conservancy in Arizona
Amy Scoville-Weaver is the director of The Nature Conservancy in Arizona Healthy Cities Team where she works to support a cooler and more resilient Phoenix. Her career has focused on implementing programs and partnerships focused on sustainability outcomes, and previous employers include Arizona State University and The International Rescue Committee. She holds degrees from Sarah Lawrence College and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Visit nature.org
Melissa Cordero
Deputy Director of Climate Justice
Veterans Power America
Melissa Cordero is a climate justice organizer, Air Force veteran, and proud daughter of Guam, serving as Deputy Director of Climate Justice at Veterans Power America, where she organizes veterans and communities for clean energy, good jobs, and a just climate future. Her advocacy spans veterans' rights, LGBTQ+ equality, transportation justice, Indigenous solidarity, racial justice, and ending rape culture, all rooted in the belief that organized communities have the power to change what feels impossible.
Visit Veterans Power America
Andy Escobar
Energy Equity Coordinator
City of Tempe
Andy Escobar has worked for the City of Tempe since 2021 and serves as the Energy Equity Coordinator, where she leads and supports initiatives focused on equitable energy solutions, climate resilience, and community well-being. She was the project lead and primary author of the City's 2022 Climate Action Plan Update and most recently led the development of the Residential Energy Equity Roadmap.
Visit Tempe Youth Stories
Evelyn Brumfield
Youth Climate Action Coordinator
City of Tempe Sustainability & Resilience Division
Evelyn is the Youth Climate Action Coordinator with Tempe's Sustainability & Resilience Division. Her work focuses on adapting to urban heat, youth engagement, and data management. Her background is in sustainability education in informal spaces.
Visit Tempe Climate ActionOur Team
Meet the people leading research, building community, and advancing public policy at Community Pulse on Public Policy.
Nathalya Galvez
Nathalya Galvez started Community Pulse on Public Policy out of a deep commitment to creating dialogue and connection between research and the community—especially at a time when it’s needed most. Having witnessed firsthand how laws and policies shaped her own mixed-status family, she has dedicated her work to ensuring that research serves the people it impacts. Nathalya has submitted research to local, state, and federal levels on issues such as voting rights, food insecurity, income inequality, and immigration reform. Through Community Pulse, her goal is to make policy research accessible by producing clear, engaging briefs that invite community members to understand, discuss, and co-create solutions that improve their everyday lives.
Erika Landa
Political Science · Transborder Studies · English Literature
Erika Landa is a first-generation student majoring in political science with minors in transborder studies and English literature. She is interested in researching how the public’s level of civic engagement affects their perceptions of public policy. Some of her policy interests include immigration, technology regulation, women’s reproductive rights, and addressing economic inequality. With policy interests in upholding human rights, she wants to participate in innovative initiatives that engage communities with local leaders. As one of the lead research analysts at CLAPR’s Community Pulse, Erika aims to establish trust between researchers and community members to discuss and promote action plans for key policy issues.
Missed the webinar? No worries, recordings are available!
Webinar on Immigration
Immigration policy is a recurring issue in U.S. politics, shaping demographic trends, labor markets, social services, and international relations. In 2025, the politics of immigration policy in the U.S. intensified into a broader debate about the integrity of our constitutional republic.
Webinar on Health Care
Rising insurance premiums, weakened vaccine guidance, and expanded immigration enforcement are reshaping healthcare access across the United States. Arizona faces particularly stark challenges, including gaps in mental health funding, affordability, and lagging health outcomes.
Brief downloads
Briefs referenced available for download.
Webinar on Climate Vulnerability
This webinar examined climate vulnerability in Arizona, with a focus on extreme heat, water stress, flood risk, data center growth, and environmental justice. It highlights how climate impacts are felt unevenly across communities, especially among low-income residents, communities of color, renters, and outdoor workers.
Who Do We Serve?
- Community members impacted by public policy
- Individuals often excluded from research and policy conversations
What Do We Do?
- Translate policy research into short, accessible briefs
- Create space for dialogue, feedback, and community engagement
- Bring people from diverse, non-academic backgrounds to join webinars and serve as panelists
- Recast who is an “expert” in public discourse.
Why Does It Matter?
- We connect research with lived experiences to inform more inclusive decision-making
- We tap experts whose authority on public policy comes from making public policy decisions, and from experience with point-of-contact service, including providers, practitioners, and recipients or beneficiaries.
Meet our 2025-26 CPPP panelists
Our panelists bring expertise across immigration, community organizing, health, education, and cultural advocacy. Each card below includes a short bio and a link to learn more.
Juliana Manzanarez
Founding Attorney
Via Law Group
Juliana Manzanarez is an immigration attorney and founder of Via Law Group. She focuses on removal defense, federal litigation, asylum, and family-based immigration matters, and she is committed to helping clients make informed decisions through clear, honest guidance.
Visit Via Law Group
Reyna Montoya
Founder, CEO & Board Member
Aliento
Reyna Montoya is a nationally recognized social entrepreneur, community organizer, and educator advancing justice for immigrant communities. Through Aliento, she has helped build broad coalitions, expand civic engagement, and support Dreamers and mixed-status families across Arizona and beyond.
Visit Aliento
Mike Renaud
Chief Executive Officer
Valle del Sol
Mike Renaud leads Valle del Sol with more than 20 years of experience in health and human services. His background includes clinical quality, patient engagement, and senior leadership roles focused on expanding access to high-quality care.
Visit Valle del Sol
Aliria Rascón, PhD, RN
Clinical Associate Professor
Arizona State University
Dr. Aliria Rascón teaches in the Edson College of Nursing and Health Innovation and brings clinical, academic, and community experience to her work. Her research centers on health equity, especially diabetes disparities in Latino communities.
View ASU profile
Francisco Torres
Community Lead
Mi Cultura AZ
Francisco Torres founded Mi Cultura AZ to amplify Latino voices through arts, storytelling, and cultural events. His community work centers on cultura, comunidad, and conciencia, with a focus on health access and the lived realities of chronic illness.
Visit Mi Cultura AZ