IRVING TORRES (32)
Member Engagement Manager, Vibrant Pittsburgh

Irving Torres grew up in Jamaica, Queens, raised mostly by his mother and grandmother. The neighborhood was a food desert, with little access to health care.

“As I matured, I began to understand how much the lack of resources and other things affect the health and well-being of folks, which can have long-term, impactful effects,” he says.

Since moving to Pittsburgh in 2014, he has tried to connect his experiences to his work with youth in violence prevention and gender transformative programs at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, as well as in addressing health disparities in local underserved communities as program director of AmeriCorps’ National Health Corps. He’s now the first member engagement manager for Vibrant Pittsburgh, a nonprofit that aims to foster more diverse and inclusive workplaces. In this role, he supports more than 130 member organizations as they seek to advance their diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

“When I’m meeting with folks, I am drawing upon my previous experiences, interjecting my own experiences as an Afro-Latino, speaking from the heart.”