Anny Kwak

Social Work Intern

Anny was born and raised in the Bay Area. She received her bachelor’s in sociology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and is pursuing a Master of Social Work at California State University, East Bay with an emphasis in Community Mental Health. Post graduate studies, Anny aims to serve Bay Area youth living in under-resourced and marginalized communities living with mental illnesses. Her professional motivation is to connect youth to quality physical and mental health recovery programs that would provide culturally-responsive and specialized treatment plans to support patients and their families. Prior to interning at CERI, Anny was a health advocate for San Francisco General Hospital. There, she had the opportunity to serve immigrant and refugee families whose immediate concerns were food and housing insecurity. However, she also saw the dire need of psychiatric rehabilitation for many patients. As she witnessed the socioeconomic barriers preventing immigrant and refugee families from accessing such healthcare services, she developed an urgent charge to bridge families to individualized mental health aids. She is honored to be a part of the CERI team where she can contribute to the mission of health equity in the mental, emotional, and physical recovery of immigrant and refugee survivors. For fun, Anny enjoys knitting, watching documentaries and comedy shows, and fellowship with her church family.

Email: anny.kwak@cerieastbay.org