Alumni News

Marlinda Quintana-Jefferson Featured in NASW Publication

Marlinda Quintana-Jefferson, BASW ’80, MSW ’86, was recently featured in an NASW publication highlighting Hispanic social workers — why they chose the profession and what challenges they encounter in serving the Hispanic community. Quintana-Jefferson also has a PhD in social work, from Barry University in Miami. She is now patient care administrator for the HIV/AIDS office of the Broward County Health Department in Florida.

A native of Chile, Quintana-Jefferson worked full-time and studied English while earning her two degrees at our School. “I have fond memories of the School,” she said.

“Allethia Allen [Assistant Professor Emeritus] taught a lot of classes related to minority women and cultural competency, and I took every one of them. There were no Latina women there at the time, but I felt validated because of her.” From Florence Stier, Professor Emeritus, she took classes in planning and administration, “something I thought at the time I would never use, but which gave me tools that became of tremendous value to me over time.”

Quintana-Jefferson has been asked by VDM Verlag, an academic publishing house in Germany,to grant permission to publish a monograph of her doctoral dissertation, whose title is “Adherence to Antiretroviral Medications Among HIV-Infected Pregnant Women.” The monograph, in English, is scheduled to appear later this year.

Here is Marlinda Quintana-Jefferson in her own words