Meet Our Students - Lisbeth Cruz (Dec '15)

Lisbeth (Lis) Cruz, BS is a veteran of the non-profit and business worlds, specifically in the areas of youth development, adult education and business management.  She has over fifteen years of experience in working with the most underserved communities in the areas of community strengthening, recruitment and educational outreach strategies, program development, reporting, training, technology and community relationships.

Mrs. Cruz is a graduate of Georgia Gwinnett College, with a Bachelors of Science in Psychology, with a concentration in Social/Applied and Cognitive/Neuroscience where she graduated with the highest honors.  She has assisted and conducted research studies in the areas of thought suppression, gender differences and academic performance. Lis has also participated in the Business, Marketing and Human Research project in Belgium, France and Switzerland. She has received numerous academic awards and is a member of various honor societies.

Mrs. Cruz is currently pursuing dual Master Degrees in Social Work and in Public Health at the University of Georgia.  During her studies Mrs. Cruz continues to add to her long history of community service by volunteering at Aid Gwinnett and the Global Community Project in Latin America. Previously she participated in the Global Civic Engagement project in South Africa and Swaziland. 

After completing her graduate degrees, Mrs. Cruz hopes for the opportunity to work on research that would bring light to issues in the realm of social/health inequalities and abuse, with a specific focus on minorities and underserved communities. Mrs. Cruz’s hope is to one day work with an organization such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization or Unicef so that she can bring a voice to the many abused and oppressed individuals who oftentimes are not included in research because they don’t have the opportunity to share their experiences either because they’re not allowed to or are simply hard to reach. As a result, she would like to be part of the implementation of strategies and programs that will allow communities around the world, to have equal access to recourses and opportunities.