- Appointed by four New Jersey Governors to serve on various licensing boards, commissions or councils. These include: the New Jersey Board of Social work Examiners, the Governor’s Council on Mental Health Stigma, and the New Jersey Health Care Access Study Commission.
- Invited speaker to over 200 local, state, national and international conferences on mental health issues, cultural competence, or early childhood education as Key Note Speaker, Workshop Presenter, Panel Member, or Expert Session Facilitator.
- Recipient of over 25 local, state and national awards for advocacy or leadership in social work or Hispanic mental health issues. Awards include recognition from Hispanic Business Magazine, Eli Lilly and Company, MD Advantage, NJBiz, the American Psychiatric Foundation, the charitable arm of the American Psychiatric Association, the Latino Behavioral Health Institute, the National Association of Puerto Rican and Hispanic Social Workers, the National Latina/Latino Psychological Association, and the United States Department of Health and Human Services.
- Invited to have own column in a nationally disseminated bilingual newspaper on Hispanic mental health titled Salud Mental published by nationally recognized Mental Health News Education. Served as the Point of View columnist throughout the paper’s existence.
- Author of several nationally disseminated publications and educational resources such as: Model Mental Health Program for Hispanics Report; a training video based on the aforementioned model titled Salud Mental: Crossing the Cultural Divide within Mental Healthcare; and Do’s and Don’t When working with Hispanics in Mental Healthcare.
- Co-author of Comprehensive In-Depth Literature Review and Analysis of Hispanic Mental Health Issues with Specific Focus on Members of the Following Ethnic Groups: Cubans, Dominicans, Mexicans and Puerto Ricans. The report has been shared with over 50,000 individuals throughout the country and abroad, and is now included as a chapter in a textbook on Hispanic Mental Health titled, Mental Health Care for New Hispanic Immigrants: Innovative Approaches in Contemporary Clinical Practice. This same report is also included as a chapter in the Journal of Immigrant and Refugee Services (Volume 3, Issue 1/2 2005).
- Co-author of Movilizandonos por Nuestro Futuro: Strategic Development of a Mental Health Workforce for Latinos Consensus Statements and Recommendations, a report developed for and disseminated by the United States Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, February 2010.
- Featured in over 100 English and Spanish radio, television, or print media coverage in various markets in the United States.
- Invited to serve on the United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Planning Group and the Organizing Committee for the National Network for the Elimination of Disparities in Behavioral Health.
- Elected to serve a three-year term as a Member of the NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) National Board of Directors (2009-2012; elected 2nd Vice-President, July 2011-June 2012).
- Elected as Chair of the Alliance for Latino Behavioral Health Workforce Development; November 2009 – Present.
- Invited to serve on the Steering Committee for a national employer anti-stigma campaign for the United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Center for Mental Health Services, July 2011.
- Invited to serve on the United States Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration’s Bringing Recovery Supports to Scale Technical Assistance Center Strategy (BRSS TACS) Expert Panel on The Role of Family in Recovery.
