Meet dr. CaZales

Hey, I’m glad you’re here.

I’m not a career politician. I’m a doctorally trained nurse, a researcher, and a community advocate. My values were shaped at home by two first-generation Mexican immigrants who taught me to work hard, care deeply, and act when something needs to change. I grew up in a home that didn’t have much, but gave everything it could. My family faced housing insecurity, lost our home during the 2008 financial crisis, and struggled to make ends meet even with two full-time incomes. And like many children of immigrants, I translated documents, advocated in schools and hospitals, and spoke up when my parents couldn’t. I’ve been stepping into that role since I was a child, and I never stopped.

My story didn’t start in Durham, but this city became my home and my family. I began my nursing career here just before the COVID-19 pandemic and witnessed how deeply systemic inequities impact people’s health, stability, and economic well-being. I saw families doing everything right but still struggling because the root causes were beyond the hospital: housing, safety, and how our city chooses to invest its resources.

That realization, along with the stories of the families I cared for, led me to one of the country’s only RN to PhD programs. I knew I couldn’t just treat symptoms. I needed to change the material conditions people live in, the environments that shape health, economic stability, and livelihood. I made a commitment to be proactive, not reactionary.

Over the past several years, I’ve supported families in hospitals and clinics, advanced research on Black and Latina women’s health, and listened to the mental and physical health needs of adolescents. Even our youth know: health is wealth. Through it all, I’ve mentored young people because I want more of them to see themselves in leadership.

Nursing has been the most trusted profession in America for 23 years, for good reason. We listen, we act, and we make tough calls with limited resources, guided by both evidence and care. I became a nurse to care for people, and earned a PhD to fight for them at the policy level. Every zoning vote, transit plan, and budget decision is a health decision. Durham calls itself the City of Medicine. It’s time for leadership that reflects it, understands it, and acts like it. Because a healthy Durham is a thriving Durham.

That’s why I’m running for Durham City Council. To listen, to act, and to lead with community. This campaign isn’t just about me. It’s about us. Because we are family.