Meet the leaders behind Villages of California. Jeanette Barreto-Valdez and Cory Brosch didn’t set out to build a company, but rather they set out to build a better way of caring for children and families.

Before Villages of California, they built careers across youth mental health, child welfare, substance use treatment, and acute behavioral health — different roles, different systems, same realization: exceptional clinical care alone isn't enough. Families also need partnerships, responsive leadership, and systems built to last.

So they took the leap. No outside investors. No guaranteed path. Just a shared belief that if they focused on trust, quality, and true partnership with schools and communities, the rest would follow.

Years later, that belief has become Villages of California — a community-based mental health organization providing school-based mental health services, intensive community-based treatment, and outpatient care for youth across Orange County and beyond.

Their philosophy hasn't changed: success isn't measured by how many programs they run — it's measured by whether families feel supported, whether partners trust them, and whether communities are stronger because of the work.

That's the foundation everything we do is built on. Interested in reading the full feature on our founders?