Valencia initially found her way to  ACED during her internship and training for her master’s degree. She holds both an undergraduate degree a master’s degree in Social Work  from the University of Alabama, Birmingham, (UAB) where she was also employed. Go Blazers! Valencia has since retired from the same university after working 27-years as a social work medical care coordinator in women's healthcare. 

During her time as a care coordinator at UAB, she supported women struggling with addiction, domestic violence, HIV, peri-natal bereavement, depression and more. In the course of her career, Valencia was recognized by several in-state universities as an outstanding field instructor to more than 35 undergraduate interns in the medical social work field. 

Valencia loves music, travel, changing hairstyles, leading small groups and community-outreach projects through church. She thinks her two adult children are amazing and feels passionately about ending the stigma surrounding mental health.

Valencia believes in the resiliency of the human spirit and brings a vibrant joy to the ACED team. She introduced us to the term “flawsome,” which describes an individual who is awesome, yet embraces the imperfection of her flaws. We believe Valencia herself is definitely flawsome!