About
Sara is a first-generation Cuban American queer writer, clinical psychologist, and coach for NeighborWorks America’s Achieving Excellence Program, an intense executive training program led by Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government faculty. She has written for Voices de la Luna, River Styx, Cognoscenti, Herstry, Pulse, and The Delmarva Review, among others, and is a three-time Boston Moth StorySLAM winner. Sara is a 2023 recipient of a Mass Cultural Council Arts grant to continue working on her memoir about her Cuban exile experience and the intergenerational toxicity of political obsession.
Raised in a Spanish-speaking household in Miami by Cuban-born parents, Sara has experienced first-hand the joys and challenges of getting ahead as an individual in a world that favors labels. A tenacious high school athlete, Sara won a volleyball scholarship that set her on a long cross-country path through higher education.
Sara has had a thriving career as a clinical psychologist, college professor, consultant, and trainer for nonprofit leaders on Race, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI). In many ways, she embodies the American Dream.
She earned her Ph.D. in psychology at Georgia State University in 1993, then completed her post-doctoral training at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA, before accepting an academic appointment at Harvard Medical School. Since then, she has worked in numerous clinical settings, including the Mind/Body Medical Institute, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, McLean Hospital, and the Children’s Hospital in Boston.
Never one to sit on the sidelines and frustrated by her local political representation, Sara broke new ground in 2008 as a first-time candidate in a spirited race for the Massachusetts State Senate, winning 41% of the vote against incumbent Republican Scott Brown.
In 2010, she was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award at the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology, and again in 2012, when her department was recognized for its extraordinary work.
A Miami transplant now living in New England, she lives with her wife, dog, and twin sons when they are home from college.