Ms. Maritza Valenzuela

Maritza Valenzuela oversees ADHS’ Office of Injury and Violence Prevention, which includes injury prevention, sexual violence prevention, domestic violence services, suicide prevention, and opioid response and prevention programs. A fifth-generation Arizonan, she discovered a passion for public health while conducting HIV testing and education across Phoenix with Terros. Ms. Valenzuela received a Master of Public Health degree from Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health and has more than 14 years of experience advancing innovative and data-driven programs in national, state, and local public health agencies. Before returning to Arizona in 2021, Ms. Valenzuela provided leadership on local youth health initiatives at the Public Health Institute at Denver Health (formerly Denver Public Health), including facilitating youth-adult partnerships in the workplace, leading a cross-sector collaboration on youth violence prevention, initiating linkages to clinical and hospital-based programs, and creating innovative processes for the 2017 Denver Youth Health Assessment and 2019 report How Gun Violence Affects Youth in Denver.

Ms. Valenzuela has no disclosures.