Henry Lozano

Henry Lozano (born August 24, 1948) is a non-profit executive and grassroots organizer. His years of public service culminated in his post at the White House as Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of USA Freedom Corps. On August 10, 2011, he was appointed to serve as the Director of Los Angeles County Teen Challenge and Urban Ministries Initiatives.

On September 11, 2007, President George W. Bush asked Lozano to step into the job of Deputy Assistant to the President and director of USA Freedom Corps. In this role, he advanced the "Call to Service" initiative launched by President George W. Bush in his 2002 "State of the Union" address. President George W. Bush created USA Freedom Corps to build on the countless acts of service, sacrifice and generosity that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

As director, Lozano coordinated service and volunteering efforts with organizations ranging from the Peace Corps and AmeriCorps to the Senior Corps and the Points of Light Foundation. He oversaw creation of the volunteer.gov website (which recently evolved into www.serve.gov, the "central hub" for service and volunteer coordination under President Obama). Lozano is a graduate of Teen Challenge, a spiritually-based recovery program. Throughout his career, he has championed many causes, especially those related to substance abuse prevention and recovery programs. In his speech, the president said: "Let us bring to all Americans who struggle with drug addiction this message of hope: The miracle of recovery is possible, and it could be you."

In 2005, Lozano was awarded the Presidential Call to Service Award in recognition of a lifetime of service. Hank Lozano, Sr. was a golden gloves boxer in California and an exhibition boxer during the Second World War. He became a successful rancher and farmer in the Imperial Valley region of California. He died on Easter Sunday in 2009.

Henry grew up in Calexico, California and graduated from Calexico High School in 1966. There, he became friends with Enrique "Kiki" Camarena, who later became a Special Agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). He initially attended college at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo to get his agribusiness degree, with the idea of taking a leadership role in the family farm, but it was the era of the '60s and, like many of his friends, Henry developed a problem with drug addiction.

The impressive results of Teen Challenge have been applauded by Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush. George W. Bush, who credits his Christian faith for his own victory over alcohol abuse, has praised Teen Challenge ever since he was Governor of Texas, saying it works "to change people's lives by changing their hearts."

Prior to his White House appointment, Lozano was the CEO of Californians for Drug Free Youth, Inc., a grass-roots organization he founded. President George W. Bush created USA Freedom Corps to build on the countless acts of service, sacrifice and generosity that followed the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

In 2003, Bush appointed Lozano as a member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service. He was recognized by the White House as "a leader for his service to our nation." He has worked over the course of his career to ensure Americans understand the value of volunteerism. On September 11, 2007, the date of Lozano's appointment, Stephen Goldsmith, Chairman of the Board of the Corporation for National and Community Service, said "Henry Lozano has devoted his life to grassroots action and citizen problem-solving."

Henry Lozano with young guests from Calexico High School in California, where the Red Ribbon Campaign began in 1985. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's website says that: "Red Ribbon Week is nationally recognized and celebrated, helping to preserve Special Agent Camarena’s memory and further the cause for which he gave his life. The Red Ribbon Campaign also became a symbol of support for the DEA's efforts to reduce demand for drugs through prevention and education programs. By wearing a red ribbon during the last week in October, Americans demonstrate their ardent opposition to drugs. They pay homage not only to Special Agent Camarena, but to all men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in support of our nation’s struggle against drug trafficking and abuse."

Youth To Youth

Henry Lozano was president and CEO of Californians for Drug-free Youth (CAFDY), a non-profit organization working to bring parents, youth, schools and communities together to create and support safe and healthy communities (from 1996 to 2007).

At CADFY, Lozano actively supported the "Youth to Youth" movement. Youth to Youth originated in Columbus, Ohio as a high school program in 1982. Its goal is to support and encourage teens to be drug-free. Since 1987, CADFY has sponsored over 300 Youth to Youth conferences in 35 communities throughout California.

Youth to Youth is intended to impower young people to become leaders, focusing its programs on issues that teens are most likely to face while growing up today, such as drugs, alcohol and smoking, negative peer pressure, depression, bullying, relationships, body image, self-concept, and community responsibility.

Henry Lozano with AmeriCorps City Year members at a National Volunteer Week event in the East Room of the White House. (Photo by M. T. Harmon, CNCS) In conjunction with the White House event, Lozano was interviewed on "Ask the White House," an online interactive forum that allowed the public to interact with Cabinet Secretaries, Senior White House Officials, behind-the-scenes professionals at the White House, and others.

On the day before the White House event, Director Lozano joined the President's Council on Service and Civic Participation, the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington, and the Corporation for National and Community Service for an event to recognize youth volunteers with the President's Volunteer Service Award for their exemplary community service. The event also launched a new online toolkit, "Youth Engaged in Service: How and Why to Incorporate Volunteer Projects into Your Youth Program", to engage youth from disadvantaged circumstances in volunteer service. The free online toolkit is published at: www.presidentialserviceawards.gov/yes.

The program, sponsored by SAMHSA (at the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services) and leaders of the Hispanic/Latino community, garnered the support and participation of two prominent Latina community leaders: Florida's First Lady Columba Bush (Governor Jeb Bush's wife) and New York State Health Commissioner and former U.S. Surgeon General Antonia Novello, M.D., agreed to serve as "Madrinas" (godmothers, mentors, spokespersons) for the campaign, whose title translates as "I am unique! I am Latina!"

According to SAMHSA's 2001 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse, a significant number of Latinas turn to alcohol and illicit drugs. Almost one in five Latinas age 12 to 17 reported past-year illicit drug use. More than one in four reported lifetime use of an illicit drug. Almost one-third, 31 percent, reported past-year alcohol use and 17 percent reported past-year use of cigarettes. Other studies have found Hispanic girls rank higher in rates of pregnancy, depression, and suicide than any other racial or ethnic group. Henry Lozano speaks at President's Volunteer Service Awards event, the West Wing of the White House.

The initiative was kicked off at "A Rally To Remember" at South Miami Middle School on October 19, 2002. Lozano joined Mrs. Bush, Dr. Novello, and SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie, an event to encourage hundreds of Latinas to celebrate their heritage and prevent the use of alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs. "We have joined with the Hispanic/Latino community to help parents send a clear and consistent message to their children – that drugs are illegal, dangerous, and addictive," said Charles Curie. "The key is talking with our children early and often."

Fundraising for faith-based groups In the Rockefeller Institute interview, Lozano addressed the issue of getting federal funding for faith-based groups. He pointed out the fact that local congregations, mosques, temples and foundations have their own constituent groups that are their support systems and their financial bases. "Within that context, you have these wonderful basins of resources that do not need outside funding to continue what they are doing already," he said.

Service

National

While he was a director of Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), Lozano also served as a Commissioner for President George W. Bush's Advisory Commission on Drug Free Communities in the Office of National Drug Control Policy. During that time, he actively promoted the President's "Access to Recovery" initiative, a competitive grant program providing federal funds to states and tribal governments for voucher programs that expand access to a range of effective substance abuse clinical treatment and recovery support services, including those provided by faith and community-based programs. He also served as a board member of the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA). Lozano also served as a presidential elector (member of the Electoral College) from the state of California in 2000.

In 2008, Lozano served on the National Advisory Commission on the creation and launch of The LEAGUE, a service and volunteering organization dedicated to making "service to the community as popular in our schools as sports."

California California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announcing the first-ever state-level Cabinet position for Service and Volunteering. In 2004, Lozano was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as a member of the Stakeholders’ Steering Committee for the California Access to Recovery Effort (C.A.R.E.) in service to Kathryn P. Jett, Director of California State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs. In 2002, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed Lozano to serve Kathryn P. Jett, Director of California State Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs as a member of the Director's Prevention Advisory Council.

Personal life

Henry met his wife Paulette Nagle in 1999 while she was deputy to the director of prevention services for the State of California Alcohol and Drug Programs, a position to which she was appointed by Governor Pete Wilson. The couple was married in a traditional Native American wedding ceremony at the Warm Springs reservation (Oregon) on Easter Sunday, 2004. Henry and Paulette currently live in Long Beach, California.