Ely Flores

Ely's job responsibilities include leading the charge in guiding Bold Vision, which seeks to empower marginalized youth in LA County to realize their fullest potential. Simultaneously, champion the Environmental Leadership Initiative (ELI), igniting a movement for environmental justice by investing in emerging leaders dedicated to building power within diverse California communities.

Ely’s career began at 17 years old when he and fellow LOBOS (Leading Our Brothers and Sisters Out of the System) organized youth and parents at the Youth Justice Coalition to challenge the massive incarceration of young people in California. As a formerly incarcerated youth, he had a deep connection to the work and was proud to be part of many campaign victories including the shutdown of the California Youth Authority. He focused his organizing on disenfranchised communities that lack investments including South and East Los Angeles. After working in Youth Leadership Development across communities locally and abroad, Ely founded Leadership through Empowerment, Action & Dialogue (LEAD) YouthBuild, a youth agency who pioneered restorative justice practices and a community organizing service-learning curriculum in Lincoln Heights.

Ely comes to Liberty Hill Foundation after having led Orange County Communities Organized for Responsible Development (OCCORD) through a rebuilding process that enabled the organization to become one of the most effective power building, civic engagement and government watchdog agencies in the region. Its campaigns have led to significant wins in housing justice, government transparency, and campaign finance reform. Other professional experiences include leading statewide naturalization, Latino voter engagement, and 2020 Census campaigns as the California Director of Civic Engagement at the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund and the expansion of renewable energy programs across under-resourced communities as Outreach Manager for GRID Alternatives Greater LA.

Ely holds a BA in Organizational Management from University of Arizona Global Campus and an MA in Social Impact from Claremont Lincoln University. He is certified in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace by the University of South Florida. Ely is a proud alumnus of YouthBuild, Public Allies Los Angeles, New Profit’s Civic Lab, and the Latino Accelerator Program by the Latino Community Foundation. He is passionate about his faith in Christ and being a husband and a father.