UC Santa Barbara’s Academic Senate has selected the Gevirtz School’s Alison Cerezo as the recipient of the 2022-23 Faculty Diversity Award. The Faculty Diversity Award recognizes the exceptional contributions and sustained commitment of faculty to the advancement of equality, diversity and social justice on the University of California, Santa Barbara campus and the greater community. The Faculty Diversity Award is one of the Senate's most prestigious, as just a single person is selected each year based on their career accomplishments.
Nominations for the award are judged on the basis of extraordinary efforts to promote equal access, public service, research, or mentorship on behalf of California's diverse, under represented, or underserved populations. The recipient is selected by a committee composed of representatives from the Academic Senate Committee on Diversity and Equity, as well as past recipients of the Faculty Diversity award. In addition to a framed certificate, Cerezo was given an honorarium of $2,000.
Alison Cerezo is an Associate Professor of Counseling Psychology in the Department of Counseling, Clinical, and School Psychology. Prior to joining the faculty at UCSB, Dr. Cerezo was an Associate Professor in the Department of Counseling, College of Health and Social Sciences, San Francisco State University where they coordinated the College Student Personnel Counseling Specialization (2013-2018) and served as Affiliate Faculty with the Health Equity Institute.
Dr. Cerezo’s primary line of research centers on reducing social and health disparities for sexual and gender diverse communities. Most recently, their work has focused on the links between stigma, discrimination and alcohol misuse and alcohol risk behaviors in sexual minority women. They are also interested in reducing barriers to mental health treatment for this community. Dr. Cerezo uses qualitative, quantitative and mixed methodologies and has carried out research on sexual and gender diverse communities in the U.S. and Mexico.
Dr. Cerezo’s scholarly work is rooted in an intersectional and critical race theory perspective—always cognizant of the ways systems of power impact health outcomes and can thus be changed to better serve underserved communities. They also serve as the director of the Healing Space, a community serving therapy center that specializes in consultation, therapy and other healing services from an Afrocentric, racial trauma approach. Healing Space, which opened in 2020 in response to a stated need for Black psychologists across the county, is dedicated to supporting and training Black clinicians who reflect the lived experiences of the Black Santa Barbara residents it serves.
