Leadership Type: Administrative

Araceli Ambert serves as the Director of Research Administrative Services (RAS) at Sanford Burnham Prebys. RAS provides administrative support to faculty and laboratories in various capacities.

Araceli brings more than 25 years of experience with various public service agencies in juvenile justice and children’s mental health, with 12 of those years in management and leadership.

She also has experience with Cultural Competence (a set of congruent behaviors, attitudes and policies that come together in a system, agency or among professionals that enables effective work in cross-cultural situations) and was chair of the Riverside County Department of Mental Health Cultural Competence committee.

Araceli has a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from California Baptist University, a Master of Arts degree in public administration from Grand Canyon University and a fellowship from the National Center for State Courts.

Lauren Mitchell is the Director, Workforce Engagement and Belonging at Sanford Burnham Prebys, where she oversees a comprehensive strategy to drive engagement and development within the Sanford Burnham Prebys community, identifying opportunities to improve and integrate engagement efforts in areas such as communication, training, organizational culture and leadership development. Lauren also serves as advisor to Institute leadership on workforce engagement and belonging best practices and manages implementation of Institute-wide strategies, programs and initiatives.

Lauren has a Master of Science degree in marriage and family therapy from Seton Hall University and a Bachelor of Arts in anthropology and English from Fordham University. She has also trained with the Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research and Cornell University DEI certification program.