Melanie Paola Torres
She/Her/Ella
Organizing Manager
Melanie Paola Torres is the Organizing Manager at Pacoima Beautiful, where she supports community-driven initiatives centered on environmental justice, cultural resilience, and grassroots power. A proud daughter of immigrants and grounded in the Northeast San Fernando Valley, she brings years of experience in community organizing, facilitation, and creative programming.
She holds a double B.A. in Sociology and Chicanx Studies from California State University, Northridge, where she connected her studies to her own lived experiences, shaping how she thinks, leads, and engages with her work and community.
Based at Casa Esperanza in Panorama City, Melanie supports projects focused on community needs assessments and engagement. She also facilitates mARTEs, an arts-based program that uses creativity to spark conversations about environmental justice. Her work weaves together storytelling, sustainability, and systems change, always informed by the lived experiences and wisdom of her community.
