MaríaElena Avila-Toledo joined the California Diabetes Program in August 2006. She is the Area Health Promotion Specialist (AHPS) for the South Central Valley, a region that includes Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, and Tulare counties. MaríaElena was born in Guadalajara Jalisco, Mexico and was raised in the heart of California’s Central Valley. She is fluent in Spanish and English and  is familiar with both the benefits and challenges associated with living and working in the Central Valley. As an AHPS, MaríaElena creates and supports linkages between the California Diabetes Program and health plans, healthcare professionals, people with and at risk of developing diabetes, and community organizations to promote the implementation of the diabetes care guidelines and primary prevention strategies that will reduce the risk of diabetes and its complications. MaríaElena is proactive in strengthening local, state, and national collaboratives by linking resources and establishing effective relationships.

MaríaElena earned her Bachelor’s degree in Health Science with an emphasis in Occupational, Health and Safety, a Minor in Spanish and her Master’s of Public Health degree in Health Promotion from the California State University, Fresno.  Before coming to the California Diabetes Program she worked at the Fresno County Department of Community Health for nine years. While at the Department of Community Health, MaríaElena advanced from Student Professional Worker to Program Manager.  

As a Fresno County Program Manager, MaríaElena coordinated county-wide annual seminars and meetings attended by more than 600 people, planned and coordinated several intensive trainings such as the adult Volunteer Speakers Bureau and the High School kNOw MORE Peer Education Program. She worked directly with staff to train high school aged youth from diverse backgrounds to prepare them to conduct presentations before their peers on the issue of teen relationship abuse.

In 2003, she participated in an evaluation on the adult Spanish Diabetes Education Program developed in Santa Clara County and implemented in Fresno County at the Sequoia Community Health Clinic. MaríaElena contributed to the development of breast cancer and diabetes education materials in Spanish and English for adults with low literacy levels in rural and urban areas.