OUR TEAM
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Laura Camilo, MSW, LCSW
is a Dominican-American clinical social worker dedicated to using creativity and critical thinking to advance collective liberation. Laura received her bachelor’s in Latin American Studies from UNC Charlotte and immersed herself in support of the immigrant rights movement. She has served Charlotte’s undocumented community at multiple local organizations. She also obtained an English minor and was able to connect with local media outlets and work as a freelance writer. Laura’s experiences crafting safe spaces for people to share their stories shaped her belief in the power of mental health support as a form of social justice. She returned to UNC Charlotte for her Master of Social Work and completed her research capstone in psychedelic-assisted therapy and potential applications for Charlotte’s Latinx communities. In August 2021, she completed the MAPS MDMA Therapy training. In August 2023, she completed the Ketamine Assisted Therapy training from Alchemy Therapy. Her policy efforts resulted in the advocacy team behind the Breakthrough Therapies Research/Advisory Act (HB727) and she is a founding member of the NC Psychedelic Policy Coalition. Laura cofounded Cohoba to build a system in which community mental health, social justice, and the healing arts exist as one.
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Daniel De La Cruz, MSW, LCSW
is a compassionate and dedicated bilingual clinical social worker experienced in working with marginalized populations. Among his areas of expertise are individuals who are struggling with issues of functionality, relationships, identity, self-esteem, and other manifestations of life challenges. He has a focus on multicultural populations and individuals who are seeking a space to integrate their transpersonal experiences. Daniel demonstrates effectiveness with culturally diverse groups with a proven ability to create and maintain strong relationships with colleagues and community partners. Daniel provides an environment of compassion and support to help individuals and families overcome obstacles to move forward and discover new life truths.
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Naomi De La Cruz Spencer, MSW, LCSW
is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker providing individual therapy. She has experience working with teens and adults experiencing depression, grief, anxiety, trauma, life transitions, low self-esteem, codependency, and relationship issues. She has a particular interest in multicultural populations, is fluent in French, has a base in Japanese, and holds an understanding of Asian American cross-cultural identity. Naomi began her training in refugee resettlement, treating trauma in the refugee community, before providing therapy to survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault at a local non-profit. Now she owns her own private practice, Kintsugi Counseling PLLC, named after the Japanese art of mending broken pottery with gold and understanding that the piece is more beautiful for having been broken and rebuilt. She has joined with Cohoba to collaborate on and pursue innovative healing practices.
Naomi builds off of each person’s unique strengths, gifts, and relationships to help them overcome life’s hurdles. She creates safe environments for individuals to use their inner ability to heal. She enjoys integrating talk therapy with meditation, and breathe-work to tap into an individual’s intuition and inner knowing. She is a Charlotte native, received her Bachelor of International Studies from UNC-Asheville and her Master of Social Work from UNC-Chapel Hill.
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Claudio Ortiz, LMBT
is a clinical massage therapist and has been educating and empowering his clients on their individual journeys in wellness for a decade. Claudio graduated from UNC Charlotte with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and continues to study within the fields of neuromuscular and therapeutic modalities. Claudio has also been active in the music and arts community as a musician and organizer, building the alternative, indie-latinx scene in Charlotte, and he is a founding member of Fair Play Music Equity Initiative. He strongly believes in the therapeutic and community-building qualities of the arts and is constantly thinking of ways to combine his two healing practices of massage and sound.
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Daniel Vargas, LMBT
Daniel Vargas has over 15 years of experience in massage therapy, specializing in Neuromuscular Therapy and Structural Integration. As a first-generation Nicaraguan American, he always felt a strong connection to the healing traditions of his Indigenous culture. Growing up, he was inspired by the incredible skills of Sobaderos—traditional Central American healers—who practiced manual therapy. At the age of 12, he began experimenting with these techniques on family and friends, which laid the foundation for his passion for healing. In 2008, he formalized his training at the Southeastern Institute for Massage.
Daniel blends traditional healing practices with modern therapeutic methods. With a thorough understanding of muscle anatomy and the myofascial lines that connect our body’s systems, he assists individuals dealing with medical conditions or postural habits that impact their musculoskeletal framework. His goal is to identify the root causes of pain and postural imbalances, providing lasting relief and restoring function. Each year, he strives to deepen my knowledge of human anatomy, massage techniques, and indigenous folk medicine, ensuring that his treatments are both effective and culturally enriching.
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Jonathan Apgar
Jonathan Apgar is a Charlotte artist and Navy veteran who received his BFA in painting at UNCC. He enjoys working on community driven projects. He is interested in the intersection between psychedelics, nature, and culture. As art director he aims to help Cohoba expand its artistic programming and create spaces that deepen meaningful experiences. When he is not painting or being a proud dad, he might be found helping to curate a gallery show or organizing groovy community events.
Board Members
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Megan Gonzalez
Megan is an arts supporter, digital artist, graphic designer, and painter. She is the co-founder and Director of OBRA Collective. She joined Cohoba’s board to advocate for novel mental health services for BIPOC communities. Megan hopes that her work with Cohoba will result in tangible opportunities for Charlotteans of color in need of compassionate, evidence-based support.
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Whitney Smith
Whitney was born and raised in Mooresville, North Carolina to a family of strong southern women. She holds a BA in International Studies, and previously worked for Charlotte’s Latin American Coalition for six years. She has been a team member of SEAC Village – a worker led and collectively managed, social justice organization, since 2017. She hopes to contribute to Cohoba through her background in nonprofit development, policy advocacy, civic engagement, and community organizing. Whitney fully believes in the possibilities and power of community-led organizations and building the collective, transformative spaces we deserve.
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Victor Cabral, MSW, LSW
Victor is a collaborative and strategic leader who is making an impact on historical inequalities in his community and across the United States. Victor serves as the Director of Policy and Regulatory Affairs for Fluence Training, a company that provides evidence-based training in psychedelic-assisted therapy and psychedelic harm-reduction and integration therapy to clinicians across the globe. Before joining Fluence, Victor served as Deputy Director for the Pennsylvania Governor’s Office of Advocacy and Reform where he co-led the implementation of the Trauma-Informed PA Plan, helped establish the first Racial Day of Healing in Pennsylvania history, and developed free trauma trainings for Pennsylvanians in collaboration with internationally recognized experts. He has expertise in policy and advocacy, BIPOC mental health, racial and communal trauma, and psychedelic medicine. He is a Licensed Social Worker and practicing psychotherapist in Pennsylvania with training in Internal Family Systems, Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy and Psychedelic Integration. Victor was also listed on the Students for Sensible Drug Policy’s list of ’40 Under 40 Outstanding BIPOC Leaders in Drug Policy in the United States’ for his work in psychedelic policy.
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Oriana Mayorga
A Master of Divinity, researcher, and trauma-informed, multifaith chaplain, oriana earns a living providing spiritual care to people navigating complicated relationships with drugs. She also works as a harm reduction coach.
Her formal drug policy career began in 2014 with internships at the Drug Policy Alliance and DanceSafe’s national organization. Since then, she has extended her care, scholarship, and presence to harm reduction organizations and communities interested in advancing psychedelic-assisted treatments, particularly for people of color disproportionately impacted by the war on drugs.
At her core, oriana is committed to the difficult work of repair after relational rupture, while centering joy, pleasure, and play. When she is not engaged in some combination of performance art, direct action, or clowning, you can usually find her lifting, running, or experimenting with Aikido.
Generative Somatics (seven years and counting) and Rabbi Mychal Springer’s CPE tutelage are two of the lineages that have most profoundly shaped her. Her soul resides on the beaches of Miami, the Catskill creeks, and Kaskades’s redux sets.”