In this new position, Dr. Hernandez will provide leadership and support for Brown University's efforts to fulfill its goals of inclusive excellence as articulated in the document Pathways to Diversity and Inclusion: An Action Plan for Brown University. She will have primary responsibilities for leading and facilitating inclusion programs and initiatives, particularly in support of the departmental Diversity and Inclusion Action Plans (DDIAPs) of academic departments and centers.
Dr. Hernandez brings both scholarly and administrative experience to her new role. As a member of the Brown community for over 9 years, she has been deeply involved in developing and implementing diversity and inclusion initiatives across the Alpert Medical School and the School of Public Health. Serving as one of the Co-Chairs for the Diversity Committee of the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, she has invested a lot of time and effort into developing and implementing diversity training initiatives, recruitment and retention efforts, and developing curriculum specific to multicultural competence and social justice leadership. She has developed and led numerous seminars and workshops as well as taught courses, ranging from topics such as exploring implicit biases, recognizing and addressing microaggressions, utilizing culturally appropriate and inclusive approaches in teaching, research, and clinical settings, and addressing stereotype threat in educational settings.
As an NIH-funded researcher and Assistant Professor (Research) in the Department of Behavior and Social Sciences in the School of Public Health, her research focuses on the development and implementation of culturally appropriate behavioral interventions for adolescents of color. Recognizing the important role that community members play in shaping culturally competent intervention approaches, Dr. Hernandez conducts her research within a Community-Based Participatory Research model, where members of the target community are seen as the experts and are actively involved in all stages of program development and implementation. As a result, Dr. Hernandez has worked extensively with high schools, community agencies, clinics, and adolescent health tasks forces across Rhode Island to develop and implement culturally appropriate interventions that are easily accessible for youth of color and their families.
This new position perfectly merges her skills, background, and most importantly her strong personal and professional commitment to fostering academic environments that promote an authentic culture of inclusion and diversity.