Meet our familia
We believe we deserve a health care experience where we feel seen and heard. We want a health care team that speaks our language, delivers compassionate care, and aligns with our culture. That’s why we created Zócalo Health.
Our story
Zócalo Health was established following the meeting of our two founders, Erik Cardenas and Mariza Hardin, who had a vision of bringing much needed improvements to primary care in the communities they were born and raised in. What formed is an innovative health care service designed by Latinos, for Latinos. Together, we are building a team that will help remove barriers to health care by offering convenient, transparent, and culturally-aligned care to our members.
The time to fight for culturally relevant, compassionate care for Latinos is now. Because we matter.
—Erik C. & Mariza H.
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Our care team
Learn more about the experts behind the screens who are here to help you feel empowered to take care of your health.
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Dr. Amber Lara
DO
Doctors
University of California, Santa Barbara / Western University of Health Sciences
Dr. Amber Lara was inspired to be a doctor after seeing the caring, respectful relationship her mother had with their family doctor. As a second-generation Mexican-American, she is passionate about family and women’s health and enjoys working with patients to develop a health plan that fits their lifestyle. Dr. Lara studied osteopathic medicine at Western University of Health Sciences where she was part of the Latino Medical Student Association. After a community health fellowship working with incarcerated patients, she continues to be active in that space as well.
Our HQ team
From our founders to our entire team, we’re working to bring you the best health care experience that combines innovation with our most important tradiciones.
Founders
Erik Cardenas
Co-Founder & CEO
Erik was born and raised in Houston, TX. He currently lives in Seattle, WA with his wife and three kids. His healthcare experience spans 20+ years and includes stints at Tenet Health, EverlyWell, and Amazon Care. When not building Zócalo Health, Erik enjoys spending time with his family exploring the outdoors or playing sports. He likes to unwind by making a family recipe such as his mom's chiles rellenos or his dad's carne guisada.His favorite food is that which is served at a backyard carne asada with great music and great friends.
Mariza Hardin
Co-Founder & COO
Mariza was born and raised in New Mexico and later moved to Washington DC for graduate school.She found herself moving to the west coast to explore career opportunities in digital health with a focus on solutions for vulnerable populations.She worked for the US Health and Human Service Department, Optum/Alere Health, Omada and most recently Amazon/AWS. Currently, Mariza lives in Seattle, WA with her family, 2 dogs, and 2 chickens. She loves hiking, biking, and exploring different towns in the PNW.Being a Native New Mexican, her favorite foods will always be Hatch green chile enchiladas served with a side of sopapillas.
Norma Bostarr
Director of Clinical Operations
Born in CA, Norma spent early childhood in Tokyo before attending UCLA for a degree in Human Biology and Society with a concentration in Medicine and Public Health. Her career spans health care operations, clinical research, health tech, and more, fueling her belief that an excellent patient experience results from a care team that is equipped with the right tools and infrastructure. Most recently, she served as Director of Growth Operations and Social Impact, leading initiatives to ensure Californians had equitable access to COVID tests and vaccines.
Adrianna Rota Melosky
Sr. Product Manager
Adrianna received her degree in Health Information Management & Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh. Over the 10+ years of her career, she has worked to build virtual and in-person health care products for scale from the ground up with companies including CVS Health, Amazon Care, Amazon Pharmacy, and Capsule. She has been featured in the Journal of AHIMA as a workforce advocate in the non-traditional HIM space and currently serves as an Education Advisory Board Member for HIM at the University of Pittsburgh. Adrianna lives in Boston, MA.
Therese Perales
GTM & Growth Consultant
Therese was born and raised in Southern California and received her B.A. in History from Princeton University. She started her career in consulting and spent the past few years at Tia, as Chief of Staff to the CEO and on the Strategy & Operations team, and most recently on the Venture team at RockHealth Capital. She loves playing soccer, going for runs with friends, and cooking new dishes!
Our advisors
We’re grateful to all our advisors who play an important role in making Zócalo Health everything it can be for our comunidad.
Manisha Sharma
MD, FAAFP
Dr. Manisha Sharma is a board certified family medicine physician, who works
at the intersection of social justice, patient care, health policy, system design and clinical
innovation in healthcare delivery. Dr. Sharma leads and provides strategic advisory
support on multiple local, state, and national initiatives geared to dismantle structural
racism in medicine and end health inequities. She appears often on several major
television networks, including NBC, MSNBC, CNN, CBS, and Fox News addressing
topics such as health and racial equity, health in all policy, social justice, wellness, and
health. She has organized and led numerous grassroots physician campaigns through the
organization Doctors for America where she served as the National Director of
Leadership Cultivation. She is a recent graduate of the California Health Care
Foundation Leadership and Innovation Fellowship, founding partner of Civic Health
Alliance (a non-partisan coalition of health professionals and students, committed to
helping peers and patients register to vote and vote safely), and CentiVox Media Group, a
social impact PR firm that transforms public health communications by elevating health
care providers, scientists, health and racial equity experts as trusted messengers.
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Dr. Tomas Valdivia
MD, MS
Dr. Valdivia works with mission-driven organizations in areas of system innovation, leadership, governance, corporate strategy, operations, and health equity. With three decades of diverse experience founding and building companies in health IT, provider accountability, consumer health and more, his understanding of technology’s role in complex care delivery informs his outlook which centers human health and wellbeing. As a physician at heart, Dr. Valdivia values caregiving, community service, and a deep commitment to health across all his professional endeavors.
Our investors
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