Darwin Rodriguez

Program Manager

“My ultimate goal is to better the lives of those who live in the communities I call home.”

Darwin Rodriguez is the Program Manager for the West Hollywood Project in Los Angeles County, which is aimed at preventing substance abuse primarily among gay men. He is passionate about transformative community change among LGBTQ+ communities and communities of color. Specifically, his work is centered around substance use in LGBTQ+ populations and seeks to reduce the harms associated with substance use. As part of the West Hollywood Project, Darwin facilitates the Safe West Hollywood Coalition, a collective of agencies and community members engaged in grassroots efforts to upend health inequities. The Safe West Hollywood Coalition’s goal is to provide local and public policy solutions to problems facing the city of West Hollywood.

Darwin graduated from Kalamazoo College with a B.A. in Anthropology and Sociology and is currently a Ph.D. Candidate of Anthropology at the University of California Irvine. His research focuses on the intersection of nonprofit work, queer communities, and substance use.