BIOGRAPHY

Joanna Otero-Cruz

Director of Family and Behavioral Health Services
Congreso de Latinos Unidos
Philadelphia, PA

Joanna Otero-Cruz brings more than 13 years of public health experience and expertise to her work helping Latinos in North Philadelphia achieve a safe and healthy community. Otero-Cruz is the director of Family and Behavioral Health Services at Congreso de Latinos Unidos in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Throughout her tenure at Congreso, Otero-Cruz has worked to improve the quality of domestic violence and health services provided to adolescents and adults in the Latino community. She also works to improve access to resources within the community by advocating with local city systems and private providers, building relationships and partnerships with community agencies, and collaborating with her staff to develop culturally appropriate programming.

Otero-Cruz manages a team of 45 staff members and a core of program volunteers within the department. She has responsibility for a full continuum of family and behavioral health services, including maternal infant and child, teen pregnancy, mental health, drug and alcohol, domestic violence intervention and child advocacy, socialization and support activities, and chronic disease prevention.

Otero-Cruz provides an important cultural perspective as she serves on multiple committees and planning groups throughout the city addressing domestic violence and chronic disease prevention.

She is a native of Philadelphia; her family is from Puerto Rico and
Costa Rica. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a concentration in management from Peirce College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.