Dr. Garcia returned to the East Coast to join Marist College.  She came from Pacific University’s Master in Social Work Program, which she helped implement. Dr. Garcia taught at CUNY School of Law for twelve years in the Clinical Program where she co-developed an innovative interdisciplinary teaching program, training legal interns in the practice of community lawyering, collaboration and client focused legal representation.  She has also taught as an adjunct at Hunter College School of Social Work, Hunter College, and Cornell University Extension in New York City. Before acquiring her PhD in 2013 and dedicating herself to academia, she worked as a social worker in a variety of capacities and settings. Ms. Garcia’s primary areas of work include: gender violence, trauma and recovery, immigrant rights, culturally relevant and appropriate practices, managing conflict, and interdisciplinary collaboration. She has been program developer, executive director, grants officer, clinician in private practice, clinical supervisor to social workers and an organizational consultant. She brings this experience to her teaching, providing her a wide range of contexts from which to draw to teach the practice of social work.