Keren Goldberg

Keren M. Goldberg feels honored to have enjoyed a career in public service that spans decades. A native of Los Angeles, and a graduate of UCLA, she was a Student Ambassador to Mexico and since then has been fluent in Spanish.

She started her career at the Los Angeles County in the Department of Social Services in South Los Angeles, and the Department of Mental Health in East Los Angeles, beginning her lifetime work in community outreach and organizing, which included initially a focus on issues of alcoholism and drug addiction, education and community linkages for inmates being discharged from prison.

Her 20 years at the Mental Health Department until her retirement in August of 2019, involved a team participation in the County’s innovative Wraparound program based at Maclaren Children’s Center in El Monte, and the department’s Juvenile Justice Administration program of the juvenile halls to coordinate treatment and discharge services for detained youth involving the Probation and Health Departments, LACOE, and the Juvenile Courts. In the last ten years she directed the integration of spirituality into mental health services with the formation of a Countywide partnership that became known as the Faith-Based Advocacy Council engaging the faith communities by producing monthly meetings and annual Town Halls, and by providing the administration of Executive Board monthly meetings. Ms. Goldberg continues to work on selected projects that promote the engagement of faith communities in addressing pressing issues in Los Angeles County.

She has served on two Los Angeles County Commissions appointed by Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, the Sybil Brand Commission to inspect the jails, and the Beaches and Harbors Commission to protect the beaches and monitor the effects of rising sea levels.

Ms. Goldberg has been an instructor in the Administration of Justice Program at Glendale Community College and conducted a Crisis Intervention Workshop for the Glendale Police Department. She organized a series of Professional Development trainings for teachers at LAUSD, and for two years was an Adjunct Professor at USC School of Theatre teaching the use of theatre to promote learning in public schools and community institutions.

She was awarded a Certificate of Appreciation from the former Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley for program innovation and a Scroll from the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors in 2012, for Exemplary Service. The Hollywood Healthcare Partnership of the First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood presented Ms Goldberg with a trophy “for her outstanding effort to bring healing and inspiration to our community”,.

Currently she has a podcast, COMMENTARIES FROM THE EDGE, in its second season with 24 episodes, accessible on Google and Spotify, where she hosts experts in conversation about new knowledge and understandings on a variety of subjects.