Join us for an essential conversation on the Intersection between Mental Health & the Criminal Justice System with community leaders Susan Burton, Marianne Diaz, and Celina Alvarez.

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Susan Burton is a visionary, inspirational leader of the criminal justice reform movement, author of award-winning memoir, Becoming Ms. Burton, and founder of A New Way of Life Reentry Project (ANWOL). Over the past 25 years, she has built a nationally recognized model for reentry, blending direct services with advocacy, organizing, and leadership development. Her work breaks the cycle of incarceration, restores families, and transforms communities. She believes that real, lasting change happens when people directly impacted by the system lead the movement—when they are trained, supported, and empowered to raise their voices and shape the policies that affect their lives. Today, Susan continues her work of eliminating suffering through opportunity, but her greatest honor has been passing on her mission to the next generation of justice-driven ANWOL leaders and staff.


Marianne Diaz has devoted her career to breaking the cycle of violence in underserved communities. In 1995, Marianne founded CleanSlate, a program to provide low-cost tattoo removal for former gang members. Since its founding, the organization has expanded to help gang members, felons, and survivors of domestic violence confront injustice in their lives through therapy, conflict resolution programs, and other services. Since 1998, Marianne has also been the director of outreach services for Southern California Counseling Center. In recent years, Marianne has expanded her work to include LGBTQI youth in the impoverished Watts community. Starting in 2015, she launched an empowerment program with therapy sessions for LGBTQIA kids to talk about their struggles and build their self-esteem.

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Celina Alvarez joined Housing Works as a frontline staff member in 2008 and became Executive Director in 2015. Through her years of work, she saw not only how devastating the crisis was for people experiencing homelessness, but also the heavy emotional and physical toll it placed on those trying to help. Today, she leads a team that serves more than 1,400 people each year across 11 sites in Los Angeles, while continuing to carry a small caseload herself. Housing Works achieves a 97% retention rate in supportive housing for people with complex needs, mental disorders, physical disabilities, and some who previously spent years or even decades living on the street. Beyond Housing Works, Alvarez has driven innovation in the field by helping launch California’s first accredited certificate program in homeless services at Santa Monica College, creating a clear, professional career pathway for frontline workers. Her work demonstrates a powerful truth: when frontline workers are supported, trained, and valued, they can deliver life-changing results—and transform the homeless response system from the inside out. 

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