Over a year ago, we started a new program called “La Academia” after dreaming for many years about having a supportive learning community within El Futuro for our own clinicians. Recently, we finished the final learning session of our very first Cohort of La Academia!
The first La Academia Learning Cohort consisted of 15 clinicians made up of therapists, interns, ADHD coaches, case managers and interns, who spent time together each week in different types of learning activities, all focused on becoming excellent bilingual, culturally responsive mental health professionals.
La Academia also launched the second Learning Cohort in August, with a new group of interns, substance use and clinical counselors, and others who will be the next generation, who will be supported through this unique, hands-on learning community at El Futuro. La Academia was created to be a comprehensive onboarding and clinical training experience for all new-to-El Futuro clinicians so that they have the maximum amount of support possible while starting their work at El Futuro.
The goals of La Academia are to :
- Provide specific skills, training, and information about providing mental health and substance use care to the population that we work with at El Futuro, and also to help new-to-El Futuro clinicians have a better understanding of how to conceptualize and provide high-quality clinical care to our clients.
- Create a supportive community for clinicians as they begin work at our agency, to be a space of coming together in our new hybrid workspace, to reduce the risks of isolation, and to ensure that all clinical staff feel connected to a cohort of others at the organization.
Congratulations to all the La Academia Cohort 1 participants for all their work and achievements!
“What an amazing cohort! I was so impressed with their final presentation! I am so proud of all the clinicians who are part of El Futuro and the wealth of knowledge we have in-house! Congratulations to all the graduates!”
Alvely Alcántara, LCSW
Rossy C. Garcia, MEd 
Katy Sims, MD 
Everardo Aviles, LCSW, LCAS (Eve)
As a medical anthropologist and social work researcher, Dr. Gulbas’ research embodies interdisciplinarity through the integration of applied theories of health and human development with qualitative and ethnographic methodologies. Her work seeks to understand how people—children, families, and providers—navigate complex sociocultural landscapes in the pursuit of mental health. Most of her work, to date, focuses attention on developing more robust interpretations of suicide risk. With funding from the National Institutes of Mental Health, this body of research has contributed to advancements in theoretical and empirical knowledge of the broader contexts within which youth suicide risk is situated. 
R. Gabriela Barajas-Gonzalez is a developmental psychologist and an assistant professor of Population Health at NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the principal investigator of a study that examines the impact of immigration-related threat and stress on school communities. She earned a PhD in developmental psychology from Columbia University and hold a BA in human biology from Stanford University. Dr. Barajas-Gonzalez is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and a first gen college student.
Dr. Parra-Cardona is an Associate Professor in the Steve Hicks School of Social Work (SHSSW) at the University of Texas at Austin. At the SHSSW, he serves as Coordinator for Mexico and Latin American initiatives. He also serves as Area Director for Research at the UT Austin Latino Research Institute. Dr. Parra-Cardona’s program of research is focused on the cultural adaptation of evidence-based parenting interventions for low-income Latinx populations in the US and Latin America.
Bianka Reese, PhD, MSPH is a research scientist and program evaluator specializing in adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her previous research in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her work as the Research and Evaluation Manager at SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led largescale evaluations of multilevel, community-based sexual health promotion initiatives and research projects aimed at elevating the voices of diverse youth in North Carolina. Dr. Reese is currently the Senior Research Strategist at Creative Research Solutions, LLC, an award-winning national evaluation, research, and assessment firm.
Tania Connaughton-Espino, MPH is an independent researcher focused on adolescent and young adult sexual and reproductive health. Her interest in the experiences of Latinx LGBTQ+ youth stems from her previous work with SHIFT NC (Sexual Initiatives For Teens), where she led the training and evaluation department, conducted capacity-building workshops for youth serving professionals including on the topic of how to be more affirming of LGBTQ youth, and from her extensive experience working with the Latinx population in NC.
Maru Gonzalez, EdD is an Assistant Professor and Youth Development Specialist in the Department of Agricultural and Human Sciences at North Carolina State University. Her areas of inquiry include youth development with a focus on activism, social justice, and the experiences of LGBTQ+ young people across familial, school, and community contexts. 
Nayeli Y. Chavez-Dueñas, PhD
Hector Y. Adames, PsyD