Joanna La Torre, LCSW (they/she/siya) is a gender / queer multi-ethnic Filipinx scholar activist from occupied Ohlone territory in California’s Bay Area. She is a PhD student at the University of Washington’s Indigenous Wellness Research Institute and is working on a culturally-embedded intervention for substance-misuse at a Native-American residential boarding school. Mx. La Torre’s research focuses on the movements of decolonizing Filipino/x/a’s in diaspora, disproportionate mental / health burdens of queers and people of color, and community-driven healing initiatives. Joanna’s clinical practice centers on work with children and families, particularly teens and young adults, and she has worked within child welfare, carceral, and medical settings. In her most recent role at the UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, Joanna supported youth that are transgender, commercially sexually exploited, as well as those chronically impacted by racist policies.

This episode’s shoutout goes to the Center for Babaylan Studies (@babaylanstudies)