LAVITA

When Aragas Mandani and Javier Osorio first crossed paths, they didn’t imagine they would one day lead a growing financial empowerment organization together. Both were drawn into the world of Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) through the teaching of Lousineh Hovsepian—Aragas’ wife and Javier’s professor at Cal State LA who taught a course where students got VITA certified and worked in free tax preparation. What started as classroom lessons quickly became a shared passion, and the two men eventually built LAVITA Community Financial Organization from that foundation.

“Basically, I got introduced to VITA through my wife,” said Aragas, now Executive Director of LAVITA. “I was working in the biotech industry with a background in genetics and engineering, but I knew I wanted to get more involved in the community. One Saturday, I told her, ‘I’ll be your student.’ I went to class, learned the system, and before long I was managing VITA sites. I realized this was what I really enjoyed—helping people and growing this project.”

That first year, Aragas helped turn around a struggling VITA site, and from there his passion only deepened. Eventually, he quit his biotech career to devote himself fully to financial education and launched LAVITA with Javier, who had also been shaped by Lousineh’s teaching as one of her students in her VITA class.

“Aragas’ wife was my teacher,” said Javier, now Chief Operating Officer of LAVITA. “I had a great experience from the start. I kept volunteering year after year. Eventually I was hired by KYCC, but by then I already had so much hands-on VITA experience from being involved with Aragas and his wife. That foundation is what made me stick with this work.”

Together, the trio laid the foundation for LAVITA. Lousineh’s students, many of whom volunteered alongside her for years, became the organization’s earliest core of volunteers. Even now, many of them are still volunteering for LAVITA.

Aragas and Javier built the organization with a mission to meet people where they are—particularly young people and immigrants who may not receive financial guidance at home.

“We found that education for those just coming into their taxpaying and filing years was important,” Aragas explained. “So many people come from families where they don’t get support or education when it comes to their finances and we want to help address that.”

LAVITA

Both leaders connect their mission to their own experiences. “I came to the U.S. as a refugee,” said Aragas. “I didn’t have anyone guiding me. I always wished I had help understanding the system. That’s what we want to give new immigrants—an early understanding of finances, taxes, and how to get involved in society.”

Javier added that the work is especially meaningful for immigrant families applying for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs). “I’ve seen clients go from applying for their ITIN to eventually getting a Social Security card,” he said. “It’s life-changing for them to realize they’ve been paying into Social Security and Medicare all these years, and now they finally have access to that system.”

In 2025, LAVITA joined forces with Golden State Opportunity (GSO) as a Community Connect grantee, rapidly expanding its reach. Together with GSO and other partners throughout the state, LAVITA participated in the statewide EITC Bus Tour, a 16-stop mobile tax filing initiative that brought free tax preparation to areas with little or no existing VITA infrastructure. The partnership helped LAVITA grow its clients by 50% in one year.

LAVITA

Beyond tax preparation, LAVITA has launched workshops on financial literacy, developed one of California’s first Spanish-language VITA trainings—certifying 20 new Spanish-only preparers—and collaborated with Assemblymember Mike Gipson’s office to host online webinars on tax credits and free filing.

Still, at the heart of the organization is the mentorship that brought Aragas and Javier together. What began as lessons in a Cal State LA classroom grew into a movement for financial empowerment, carried forward by the students who first learned under Lousineh and now continue to volunteer alongside her family.


To learn more about LAVITA, follow them on Instagram at @lavitacfo
To learn more about the VITA program, free tax preparation, and other resources, visit caleitc.org.