Demetria Scott, MSW, ACSW, CWC II, is the Founder and Executive Director of EMBR88C Change Now, a South Los Angeles–based nonprofit rooted in healing, equity, resilience, and community transformation. A native of Watts, where she was born and raised, Demetria's leadership is shaped by both professional expertise and lived experience. Growing up in Watts, she survived neighborhood obstacles, systemic barriers, and community challenges, while also being grounded by a strong foundation that helped shape her values, compassion, and determination.
Although her childhood came with barriers, Demetria reflects on those early years as her own "wonder years" — a season that taught her strength, awareness, survival, love, and possibility. Those experiences helped her understand that even in communities facing hardship, there is beauty, wisdom, family, culture, and resilience.
Education shaped by perseverance
A graduate of the University of Southern California with a Master of Social Work, Demetria did not simply go to school — she pursued her education while navigating real-life challenges. During her college years, she experienced domestic violence and homelessness, barriers that could have disrupted her path. Instead, those experiences deepened her purpose, strengthened her resilience, and gave her a personal understanding of what it means to fight for stability while still reaching for a better future.
Lived experience that informs leadership
Demetria also understands how brief justice-system contact can create lasting obstacles. In 2009, she was falsely accused and briefly arrested; the case was ultimately dismissed, but the experience still created barriers to employment and housing. That chapter gave her firsthand insight into how quickly stigma, systems, and lack of access can affect a person's stability, dignity, and opportunity.
EMBR88C Change Now was born from lived experience, professional training, and a deep awareness of the needs within her community.
Demetria saw how many individuals and families were expected to overcome trauma, housing instability, re-entry barriers, violence, poverty, disability-related challenges, and systemic exclusion without enough support. She founded EMBR88C Change Now to be a bridge — connecting people to resources, advocacy, healing, education, wellness, housing support, and opportunities for lasting change.
Her leadership is also informed by the experiences of friends, family members, and community members who have faced re-entry barriers, homelessness, domestic violence, trauma, and exclusion. These lived and observed experiences allow Demetria to lead with empathy, accountability, and real-world understanding.
Through EMBR88C Change Now, Demetria leads trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and disability-accessible programs that support justice-impacted individuals, multigenerational families, neurodivergent youth, unhoused families, and communities navigating systemic barriers. Her work centers resource navigation, housing stabilization, workforce development, wellness support, leadership development, and pathways toward long-term healing.
The meaning behind the name
The "88" in EMBR88C represents infinity — endless possibility, renewal, and transformation. The butterfly represents growth after struggle. Together, they reflect Demetria's own story of infinite transformation: moving from survival to stability, from barriers to purpose, and from lived experience to community impact.
Her mission
Demetria does this work because she knows transformation is possible when people are seen, supported, and given access to the tools they need to rebuild. Her mission is to help individuals and families understand that their past does not have to define their future, and that with the right support, healing, opportunity, and transformation are always possible.
"From barriers to breakthroughs, we embrace change now."