We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Luisa Lopez a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Luisa, appreciate you joining us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

Becoming President of the Latino Social Work Coalition has been a defining moment for me and my career because it really highlighted to me the importance of powerful advocacy in the “room where it happens”. As a social worker, we are trained to advocate for our clients and the communities we serve at the local level, in direct practice or to help them get access to benefits they need to survive. Rarely do we get to do it at the macro level, and doing the kind of advocacy I do with the Coalition really drove home for me how important it is for organizations and communities (especially traditionally marginalized ones) to have an ally in the room where decisions are being made about which communities get the most resources. This ability to push for legislative change, to advocate for resources to be distributed to the communities that need them the most, and to give entire communities a fighting chance has been transformative to me as a person, and as social worker.

Luisa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I became a professional social worker because I feel like I’ve ALWAYS been a social worker– first in my own home to my family, for our friends and neighbors, always ready to translate a document, or mediate with repair men, or direct folks to resources they needed. Today, I proudly serve as President of the Latino Social Work Coalition and Scholarship Fund, an organization dedicated to strengthening the pipeline of Latino and bilingual social workers in the field, by providing scholarships, mentorship, community, networking and professional development to new and experienced social workers. We support students in achieving their educational goals, and we support professionals in reaching their goals of advancing within the social work profession. For the past 22. years, the Coalition has been ringing the alarm on the shortage of culturally competent social workers– in my role I get to continue to advocate for pathways to for MORE social workers to enter the profession, and for our communities to get the culturally and linguistically relevant mental health and wellness care that they deserve.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

I think for nonprofit leaders, it is vitally important to identify your WHY and your HOW— call it your personal code of ethics, etc. Identifying your why will ALWAYS remind you of the reason you STAY in the work and identifying your HOW will always be the blueprint for doing what we do ethically and intelligently. Advocacy can be very hard, when there are so many issues to tackle and so much need in your community, and it’s easy to get distracted or get compassion fatigue— but determining your why and your how will let you focus and tackle the most pressing issues to you.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I think I have a reputation as a a tireless advocate, a kind of “energizer bunny” for social workers! I’ve built that reputation by showing up for my community, by ensuring that we have representation, and that our perspective is taken into account. I can only do that by constantly being on the ground, talking and collaborating with social workers on all levels, and taking their concerns to the change agents that can make a difference.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.latinosocialworkcoalition.org
• Instagram: @latino.socialwork.coalition
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/latino-social-work-coalition-nyc/