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.

Zócalo Founders

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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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.
Julia Garcia
Chief of Staff
Julia, originally from Bridgeport, Texas, holds a Bachelor of Science in Public Health from Texas A&M University. Julia is a first-generation Latina and the daughter of two immigrants from Mexico. Her vision is to enhance healthcare access for Latinos, with a particular focus on those in rural areas. Prior to her current role as Chief of Staff, she held roles such as Training Manager and Operations Manager for the West region at Curative. She now lives in Seattle, Washington, where she is pursuing a Master's in Healthcare Administration at the University of Washington. During her free time, Julia enjoys running and exploring new coffee shops.
Paul Barrón
Technical Program Manager
Based in Houston, Paul Barrón holds the role of Technical Program Manager, where he skillfully navigates the intersection of software engineering, product design, and team leadership. Currently focused on delivering solutions for the U.S. Latino population, Paul Barrón balances technical acumen with a strong sense of product vision. His work isn't just about writing code; it's about crafting digital experiences that resonate culturally and solve real-world problems. He is a holistic thinker, seamlessly bridging the gaps between various aspects of product development.
Renee Harrison, MPH
UX Researcher
Renee is originally from Santa Ana in Southern California and has called the San Francisco Bay Area her home for over a decade. Her background is in anthropology and public health, and she received degrees from UC Berkeley and the University of San Francisco. She has combined experience with qualitative, clinical, and user research within virtual and community health settings. Renee currently lives in San Francisco with her husband and cat and she enjoys block/linocut printing, thrifting, and traveling.

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.
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