Advocacy PartnerDr. Laura Minero
Dr. Minero (she/her) earned her PhD in Counseling Psychology and has dedicated her life-affirming work to revolutionizing systems that adversely impact undocumented, queer, trans, and communities of color. She contributed to scientific studies used to inform national policy as a Science Policy and Technology Fellow with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Dr. Minero presently provides bilingual/bicultural, trauma-informed, affirming, and evidenced-based mental health services and develops trauma-informed curriculum and trainings for the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health + UCLA Prevention Center of Excellence. She has given numerous keynote speeches, trainings and serves as a consultant for audiences nationwide and has received numerous national and local awards in recognition of her advocacy, research, and leadership. To learn more about Dr. Minero’s prior and ongoing experience, visit https://lauraminerophd.com/ Dr. Minero co-founded the first university organization for undocumented students in Wisconsin, DREAMERS of UW-Madison which later grew into the first state-level organization in Wisconsin for undocumented students. Dr. Minero has been featured on Fusion for her advocacy related to campus sanctuaries having co-written one of the first campus sanctuary petitions to be circulated nationwide by-which various other petitions were modeled after 45th was elected President. Dr. Minero has actively participated in city council meetings providing testimonies for city ordinances, engages with her senators and congress members advocating for a comprehensive, humane and inclusive immigration reform and has taken several advocacy trips to Washington D.C. to fight for various immigration relief policies alongside United We Dream and the American Psychological Association. In addition to community organizing, Dr. Minero has received distinguished academic, clinical, and research training. She earned her PhD in Counseling Psychology from University of Wisconsin-Madison in August of 2020. She contributed to scientific studies used to inform national policy as a 2019 Christine Mirzayan Science Policy and Technology Fellow with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Her research with undocumented and asylum-seeking transgender immigrants and the intersections of transphobia, racism, and state-sanctioned violence was supported by Ford Predoctoral and Dissertation Fellowships and subsequent dissertation awards via the Association for Hispanics in Higher Education and the National Latinx Psychological Association. Dr. Minero presently provides bilingual/bicultural, trauma-informed, affirming, and evidenced-based mental health services and trains other Los Angeles County professionals as a LGBTQ Youth Trauma, Resilience and Community Education Post-Doctoral Fellow at UCLA’s Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. More broadly, Dr. Minero specializes in working with LGBTQ2-S+, Latinx, Spanish-speaking and undocumented populations in clinical, advocacy, supervisory, consultation and teaching settings. As a social justice researcher, Dr. Minero examines how policy impacts the lived experiences of undocumented immigrant and LGBTQ+ communities to identify how to better-serve these populations through more inclusive implementation of policy and distribution of services. She has given numerous keynote speeches, trainings and serves as a consultant for broad audiences nationwide including non-profits, k-12 and higher education professionals, community organizations, researchers, mental health and government professionals on the provision of trauma-informed, LGBTQ+ affirming care, and transforming leadership with special emphasis on anti-racist, intersectional and liberation frameworks. Please connect with Dr. Laura Minero (She/her/Ella) at [email protected] for support with connecting divisional member’s policy and advocacy initiative to APA’s advocacy initiatives. |
