Profile

Right now I am focused on completing my doctoral dissertation, so my job involves a lot of reading, writing, and data extraction and analysis. My research involves the review of court records of children involved in the Los Angeles dependency system.

Right now I am primarily working from home, so I am able to work in my pajamas when I want to (always a plus!) and take naps or watch TV in the middle of the day if I need a break.

I primarily work with graduate students and professors in law, social work, psychology, public policy, anthropology, sociology, geography, urban and social planning, public health, and public administration. I also work with practitioners (judges, lawyers, social workers, psychologists) involved in child maltreatment and delinquency proceedings.

When I have a day devoted to my dissertation work, I usually begin working between 8-9 AM and take a break around 1 PM. I usually resume work around 3 PM and, except for a dinner break, will usually work until 11 PM.

My job requires knowledge of quantitative, qualitative, and spatial analysis research methods and strong written and analytical skills. My job also requires the ability to understand the “languages” of many different educational disciplines.

My schedule is very flexible right now because I am not teaching or taking classes. The federal government is providing me support through grant funds to assist me with the completion of my dissertation for my Ph.D.

Yes, I travel to attend conferences and training events.

Interacting with students and researchers with interests similar to mine and a desire to effectuate change to improve the lives of children.

I don’t like that some researchers still do not accept race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic differences as having any relevance to their data analysis. I also don’t like the predisposition of some researchers to treat all graduate students as if they had no professional or life experience prior to engaging in advanced study.

Students who become excited about learning something new and who have the energy and desire to engage in a struggle against the status quo.

My father. He taught Chicano/a Studies and the History of Mexico for several decades at the college level prior to passing away in 2007.

It is impossible to achieve a 100% following. In other words, you will never be able to please all of the people all of the time.

A faculty member of color in my Ph.D. program told our class that we should only choose to engage in activities that help us attain tenured faculty positions. This person essentially said that we don’t receive credit for doing things for other people, so we shouldn’t spend our time helping others. Given that my field is social work, I was particularly shocked by this position.

Choose your own path in life and always remain true to who you are and who you want to become. Don’t let concerns about higher education debt drive your decisions.

I would spend less time worrying about how others perceive the choices I make.

I enjoy relaxing with my family and good friends—enjoying a nice meal and conversation.

I am passionate about making a positive difference in the lives of children through systems change and policy advocacy.

My son is in college now, so I don’t get to see him as much as I would like. But when he was younger I would take him to campus with me (undergraduate and law school) so he could see where I spent my days. I also used the university day care so I could visit with him at his preschool. When he was in middle school he heard about a “take your daughter to work” campaign and he wanted to know why it wasn’t a “take your child to work” campaign instead. So he accompanied me to my law office and court. He only needed those few hours to realize he never wanted to be a lawyer!

Through hard work, education, mentorship, perseverance, and an ability to “think outside the box.”

As a judicial officer presiding over cases involving children, I became very concerned about the adversarial manner in which child welfare professionals from different educational backgrounds interacted with one another. Many times the focus on the child’s best interests was lost amongst the competitive posturing. I wanted to make a positive difference on a large scale, so I decided that my best chance to do so would be through research, teaching, and policy advocacy.

I don’t want to go into too much detail here, but since entering college as an undergraduate student I have had to deal with discrimination based on my ethnicity, gender, educational background, social class, parental status, medical disability, and my child’s medical disability. I have had to learn the hard way that an organization’s written philosophies and best practices guidelines are sometimes just words meant to market themselves and they are unable or unwilling to stand by those words.