Join us in celebrating this year’s Honorees.
These outstanding graduates have been selected and recognized for their exceptional academic achievements and service to the profession, department, and community.
Graduate Student Award for Distinguished Achievement Recipients
Leesa Lopez is a first-generation college student who was born and raised in the farm working immigrant community of the Salinas Valley. Since being involved in higher education, Leesa has excelled in their academics and has dedicated their extra time to activism and community organizing. Leesa has prioritized community partnerships and has held leadership positions in organizations like the Student Council of Intertribal Nations (SKINS), Movimiento Estudiantil Chicanx de Aztlan (M.E.Ch.X.A),and is currently the President of the Master of Social Work Council (MSWC) at SF State. In 2021, Leesa brought their advocacy to their hometown and co-founded a community organization named Soledad Voices with the Mission of advocating for accessible mental health services for low-income, farm working families in need. Leesa is currently enrolled in the MSW Program at SF State as a Title 4-E stipend recipient. They are interning with San Francisco Child Welfare Agency’s bilingual unit serving monolingual immigrant families. Post graduation, Leesa will continue supporting system-involved families with a trauma informed lens and dedication to cultural humility.
Maritza Marquez was born and raised in San Francisco and received her Bachelor's in Social Work at SF State in 2020. Maritza is a devoted student who excels in her academic scholarship and service to others. She is a second-generation Mexican American, first-generation college student, and will graduate with her Master's in Social Work. As a Latina Social Work student, Maritza embodies a Feminist and Restorative Justice framework to serve members of marginalized communities. The School of Social Work program has led her to fulfill internship experiences from case management at 30th Street Senior Center to one-on-one and group therapy at Bryant Elementary School within San Francisco's Mission District. Maritza currently interns at the San Francisco Department of Public Health-Silver Avenue Family Health Center as a Behavioral Health Clinician. She will pursue Clinical Licensure and Pupil Personnel Services Credentials post-graduation. Maritza continues serving her community through Rally Family Visitation Services as a visitation specialist, where she supports the importance of building family relationships, ensuring safety and quality of service, and mentoring other social work interns. Outside of internship and work, Maritza has supported her community by serving and preparing meals at Glide Foundation, including delivering meals for Self-Help for the Elderly. She actualizes her academic pursuits while balancing employment, being a member of the Master of Social Work Council, and growing as a well-rounded individual. Maritza looks forward to sharing graduation in May with Family, Friends, Mentors, Colleagues, and Faculty, all of whom have been her most powerful support system.
Undergraduate Departmental Honoree
San Francisco native Ursula Renae Choice was raised by her single mother who worked tirelessly to make ends meet and instilled in her the values of hard work and perseverance to achieve her goals. After becoming a single teen mother herself, Ursula embarked on a journey to break generational setbacks by becoming her family’s first-generation college graduate.
Ursula attended City College of San Francisco where she earned three associate degrees in Social Justice-Ethnic Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences, and Liberal Arts. In 2021, Ursula transferred to San Francisco State University to pursue a major in Social Work and a minor in Counseling. Last Fall, Ursula was accepted into the BASW-MA Gerontology SF State Scholars Program and is currently taking graduate courses in Gerontology while completing her requirements for her BASW degree and her Counseling minor. For her capstone, Ursula is writing research proposal and literature review on the effectiveness of protective orders on the safety and well-being of victims/survivors of domestic violence.
While maintaining a fulltime course load, Ursula has been actively involved in on-campus and off-campus activities including speaking at BASW information sessions to provide prospective applicants with a student’s perspective about the program; participating in the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Legislative Lobby Days for two academic years, and becoming certified as a campus Health Promotion and Wellness Ambassador. Throughout her education, Ursula continued her commitment to promote health and wellness in the community. She worked for the Ernest Mitchell, Jr. Restorative Wellness and Self-Care Center & Outpatient Clinic Services in Bayview-Hunter's Point and at Rally Family Visitation Services.
After graduation, Ursula will return to campus to complete her final year in the M.A. in Gerontology. Ursula hopes to serve her community as a social worker using a health and wellness focus and an inter-generational perspective to practice.