Meet The Team

We are always looking for individuals and organizations who share our commitment to social justice and our dedication to enhancing cultural identities and promoting health and wellbeing amongst ethnic minority and immigrant individuals and communities.

Guerda Nicolas

Dr. Guerda Nicolas is a Professor in the Educational and Psychological Studies department at the University of Miami, School of Education and Human Development. She obtained her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from Boston University. She completed her pre-doctoral training at Columbia University Medical Center and her postdoctoral training the New York State Psychiatric Institute/Columbia University, Department of Child Psychiatry.As a multicultural (Haitian American) and multilingual psychologist (Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole), her research is reflective of her background and interests.Her current research focus on the integration of race and culture and well-being for ethnically diverse and immigrant communities. Some of the projects that she is currently working on includes: promoting academic excellence among ethnically diverse youth, identify development of Black youths, and empowering ethnically diverse parents to be effective parents. In addition, she conducts research on social support networks of Caribbean populations with a specific focus on Haitians.She has published several articles and book chapters and delivered numerous invited presentations at the national and international conferences in the areas of women issues, depression and intervention among Haitians, social support networks of ethnic minorities, and spirituality.

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Her recent books includes:

Contemporary Parenting: A Global Perspective,
by Routledge Press.

Through a global, multidisciplinary perspective, this book describes how four factors influence parenting practices: a countries historical and political background, the parent’s educational history, the economy and the parent’s financial standing, and advances in technology.

Building Mental Health Capacity in Haiti through Collaborative Partnerships,
by Nova Publishers.

This monograph is a guidebook focusing on how to implement mental health training programs internationally. The book is structure in a way that utilizes Haiti as an example of what scholars who are interested in global mental health can do to effectively implement a training program internationally.

Social Networks and the Mental Health of Haitian Immigrants,
by Caribbean Studies Press.

The book provides information regardingthe lives of Haitian immigrants through research at the intersection of culture, social networks, and mental health. In addition, recommendations for providing culturally sensitive and effective services are included in the book.

Ceewin N. Louder

Ceewin is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Counseling Psychology program at the University of Miami. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a dual-major in Psychology and Biology. After two years working as a Global Mission Fellow in Oklahoma City and one year working as a bookseller in Raleigh, NC, she decided to go back to school for psychology. She completed her master's degree in Clinical Psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University in May 2019 and began working with CRECER in August 2019.

Broadly, Ceewin's research interests center around racial stress, emotion, and community- based interventions. Specifically, she is interested in how the stress and emotional toll of racism impact the physiological health (e.g., heart rate variability) of Black folx in America, perpetuating racial-ethnic health disparities in health and wellness. In CRECER, she is in her second year as a co-coordinator for the Strong Roots Parenting and Caregiver Program with Marie.

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Alexis Franklin

Alexis Franklin is a third year PhD student at the University of Miami within the School of Education and Human Development. She earned her bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee in 2018. After completing her undergraduate degree, Alexis spent two years learning and researching as a Psychology Intern at George Washington University’s Clinical Psychology clinic and as a Psychology Research Fellow at the National Cancer Institute within the National Institute of Health.

Alexis joined the CRECER team in 2020 where she is a co-coordinator for the Kulula Project. Broadly, her primary research interest is the mental wellness of Black university students. Ultimately, she is interested in researching culturally-informed interventions aimed at promoting mental health wellness and academic outcomes for marginalized populations, specifically Black women.

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Joelle Dorsett

Joelle Dorsett is a second-year Counseling Psychology Ph.D. student at the University of Miami within the School of Education and Human Development. She completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Florida, where she majored in Psychology and minored in Spanish. Joelle’s primary research interests center on the intersection of environmental justice and mental health in Black and Afro-Caribbean communities. Within CRECER, Joelle serves as the co-coordinator of the Kulula Project, an empirically supported, community-based intervention in partnership with Coconut Groves Cares that aims to enhance ethnic identity, socialization skills, and adaptive coping among Black youth living in the West Grove. Joelle also serves as the Graduate Research Fellow for the University of Miami Laboratory for Integrative Knowledge (U-LINK) Climate Gentrification project investigating how climate issues are contributing to the displacement of residents in historically under-resourced neighborhoods. Joelle’s personal research focuses on the mental health of Black and Afro-Caribbean communities experiencing environmental injustice.

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Ariana Samuel

Ariana Samuel is a first-year Counseling Psychology Ph.D. student at the University of Miami. She completed her undergraduate education majoring in Psychology with a minor in Communication Studies at Christopher Newport University. She completed her master's degree in Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling at Virginia Commonwealth University and is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor.

Ariana's research interests include Black identity, intersectionality, racial socialization, protective factors, and mental and emotional health outcomes. Moreover, she is interested in how gendered-racial stereotypes (i.e., Jezebel, Strong Black Woman, etc.) affect Black girls and women during the racial identity development and socialization period. She plans to explore protective factors to ameliorate Black women’s mental and emotional well-being as well as within Black Caribbean populations. In CRECER, Ariana is a co-facilitator for the Fireside Mental Health Chats

George Welch

George Welch is a first-year Masters student at the University of Miami, pursuing a degree in Clinical Mental Health Care. He is passionate about applying his growing knowledge to foster meaningful conversations around mental health. With an undergraduate background in music performance, specifically classical violin, from the University of Florida, George brings a unique interdisciplinary perspective to his work.

George joined CRECER’s research team for Fireside Mental Health Chats in 2024, where he works alongside a dynamic group of researchers to explore and provide culturally alert mental health care. As a co-facilitator for Fireside Mental Health Chats, George aims to create accessible, open spaces for individuals to engage in discussions about mental well-being, with a focus on cultural awareness and sensitivity.

Josh Mims

Josh Mims is a 4th year undergraduate student at the University of Miami, pursuing a degree in Health Science with minors in Public Health and Exercise Physiology. Originally from Silver Spring, Maryland, he joined CRECER in 2024 as a research assistant. His research interests focus on identifying social determinants of health and improving access to healthcare and programs to improve quality of life for underrepresented populations. Josh is particularly passionate about understanding how systemic barriers impact health outcomes and exploring solutions that promote equity in healthcare. He hopes to use his background in public health and exercise physiology to bridge gaps in preventive care and community health initiatives. After graduation, he plans to attend graduate school, where he aims to integrate research and clinical practice to advocate for patient-centered, inclusive healthcare.

Tochukwu Awachie

Tochukwu Awachie (they/them) is a queer and trans-genderfluid child of Nigerian immigrants who grew up on land stolen from Mvskoke and Aniyvwiyaʔi nations (Atlanta, GA). In personal and professional life, they are invested in the artistic, relational, radical, and metaphysical approaches to wellness that global Black cultures have cultivated for generations. They assert that uplifting African Diasporic ways of knowing, being, and healing within and beyond academia is a necessary form of resistance against Black dehumanization and epistemicide and restoration of Black liberation. As a doctoral student at the University of Miami, they aim to conduct research that contributes to the radical school of Black psychology, which deconstructs and decenters white, EuroAmerican cultural and intellectual hegemony and nurtures Black wellness through the indigenous wisdom traditions.