NEW FIELD FACULTY Isela Garcia White
Field Consultant and Lecturer Isela Garcia White is a field consultant and lecturer at the School of Social Welfare. She works closely with students focused on children and community mental health. For the last 15 years, she has provided child and adolescent mental health services in a wide variety of settings, including the Oakland and Mt. Diablo Unified School Districts, John Muir Behavioral Health’s Adolescent Outpatient Program, the City of Berkeley’s Mental Health Department and Stanford University’s Counseling and Psychological Services. While at Mt. Diablo Unified School District, she served as a field instructor and training coordinator. She also served as a field seminar leader and field liaison for California State University East Bay’s MSW program. A bilingual and bicultural social worker, Garcia White is dedicated to providing high-quality, effective, and culturally responsive mental health services to children and families from diverse communities. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and earned her BA from UC Berkeley and her MSW and Pupil and Personnel Services Credential from the University of Southern California. What interested you in the position at UC Berkeley School of Social Welfare? I loved my own experience in graduate school, and deeply enjoyed supporting MSW students when I served as a field instructor — so this position tapped into both of those joys. I also believe in creating strong learning communities that hold high standards, while also being inclusive and affirming. This position gives me an opportunity to be student-centered and put that into practice in my own way. Joining the faculty here is also giving me the opportunity to utilize my knowledge and experience in Social Work in a new way. As a UCB alumna, I was also excited about the chance to return to campus in a professional capacity. What have you enjoyed most about working with Berkeley Social Welfare students? Our students are highly motivated and passionate about this work — it shows in their developing practice, in their selfreflection, in their critical thinking and classroom discussions, and in their support of one another. I’ve enjoyed getting to know students, learning about their areas of interest, and supporting their overall experience in Field. It has felt rewarding to help students make real-world connections between theory and practice.
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SOCIAL WELFARE AT BERKELEY INTRODUCTIONS
