Emmelyn Hernandez attained her MSW from the University of Southern California’s Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, with a concentration in Social Change and Innovation. Emmelyn also graduated from the University of San Francisco, where she received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a minor in English. She is passionate about working with non-profit organizations, serving low-incoming communities, and empowering youth to be our future leaders. Her background as a research assistant, working with children living in transitional housing, and mentoring high school students in underserved communities, has led her to pursue a macro-level social work career. She was an intern at the SISGI Group Alliance for Positive Youth Development program in 2022 where she created awareness of LGBTQ+ youth issues and mental health. Her areas of interest are but are not limited to, mental health advocacy, LGBTQ+ advocacy, and poverty. Emmelyn’s goal for the future is to bring about social change to her community and other marginalized communities by providing support, resources, and research-based solutions.
Emmelyn Hernandez
Author's posts
Apr 06
Helping Youth Manage Stress
Don’t stress out, but April is Stress Awareness Month, which means we’re going to talk about stress, specifically, the stress in youth and how to support them. Stress is a response to external factors that your mind and body perceive as challenging or threatening, which causes the “fight, flight, or freeze” response. Everyone experiences stress, it is …
Jun 08
5 Methods for LGBTQ Inclusivity in Schools and Youth Programs
It’s no secret that if our youth are in a safe, supporting, and nurturing environment, they are more likely to thrive. Unfortunately, our LGBTQ youth are not always in that environment. In a study done by The Trevor Project, LGBTQ youth were more than 4x likely to attempt suicide because of negative treatment and unsafe …
May 10
Promoting Youth Mental Health Through Social-Emotional Learning in Schools and Youth Programs
With everything that has happened in the past two years, it is no secret that the mental health of our youth is important. There are a variety of ways to support youth mental health: from counseling and therapy to self-care techniques and simply listening and spending time with them. Another vital strategy that can help …
May 09
5 Ways to Support LGBTQ Youth Mental Health
There seems to be an attack on the LGBTQ community in recent years, especially on our already vulnerable LGBTQ youth. I wish I was exaggerating, but an article published by the Human Rights Campaign last year declared that “2021 Officially Became the Worst Year in Recent History for LGBTQ State Legislative Attacks,” stating that more than 250 …
May 05
How to Support Youth Mental Health
Think back to when you were a child, a teenager, or both. You may not want to remember, I certainly don’t, or maybe you are remembering right now, but try to truly remember how it was. Were you happy overall? Was it hard? Or was it a mix of both? Did you wish you had …
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