ADRIANA GUERRERO is a military veteran, having served for 13 years in the Marine Corps. During her service, she was a Uniformed Victim Advocate (UVA) for three years while stationed in Japan, where she was on call 24-hours a day in case there was a sexual assault. Some of her responsibilities included providing emotional support, guidance for survivors, and offering available medical, counseling, spiritual, and legal options to the 300 Marines in her unit. With each survivor, Adriana was responsible for filing initial and subsequent reports on a weekly basis until the matter was resolved or was transferred to legal—depending on the survivor’s choice to maintain confidentiality or press charges.

After leaving the military, Adriana worked for a non-profit organization in San Diego, where she provided services for the pre-school, senior center, and legal aid programs. She was inspired to pursue her MSW after meeting a licensed clinical social worker at the organization and engaging in house building trips to Mexico, fundraising for educational initiatives to support young women in African nations, and volunteering with various organizations around San Diego.

Adriana graduated with an MSW from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work in May of 2019. During the two-year program, she interned at Aviva Family and Children Services, serving as a therapist for adult survivors of sexual assault and intimate partner violence and the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. Adriana is a first-generation college student, receiving her bachelor’s degree from City University of Seattle and an MBA from Benedictine University. She currently works the Program Supervisor/Supervising Case Manager, at the Latino Resource Organization, a nonprofit agency that strives to improve the lives, well-being, and socioeconomic status of low-income families within the City of Los Angeles.