Diana Formoso, Ph.D. is a Professor in the College of Psychology at Nova Southeastern University. She earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Arizona State University and completed her post-doctoral work at the University of Illinois at Chicago, specializing in children and families and community psychology. She has over 25 years’ experience in understanding risk and protective factors impacting low-income, ethnic minority and immigrant youth and families. She co-developed several interventions to strengthen youth coping skills, parenting, and family and community support for immigrant youth (Bridges serving Mexican American and Mexican immigrant middle schoolers in Phoenix, AZ; Newcomer Center parenting groups for recently immigrated parents of high schoolers in Chicago, IL; and Connections serving elementary students and parents from Latin-America, Haiti, and the English-speaking Caribbean in South Florida).

Her most recent work is leading the Unaccompanied, But Not Alone project, where we use a community-based participatory research approach to learn more about the strengths and needs of unaccompanied immigrant minors in South Florida. This qualitative work has informed a strengths and needs assessment, our understanding of UIM resilience and family, community and policy protective factors, and facilitators and barriers to services for migrant youth and families. The team also has volunteered at legal immigration screening clinics and developed a migrant youth resource guide for our local area. This work is intended to develop strengths-based, culturally-competent interventions for unaccompanied youth, their caregivers and the professionals who serve them. It is also meant to inform community-based services and policy initiatives that can support family relationships and youth well-being.

Dr. Formoso is proud to mentor and collaborate with a multi-cultural group of students with interests and experience in serving immigrant youth. She has developed courses in Assessment and Interventions in Spanish and Children and Families Experiencing Adversity and Transitions. She supervises students working with low-income, ethnically diverse youth and families in local community mental health clinics.

As a bicultural, bilingual psychologist and the proud child of immigrants, Dr. Formoso strives to bring the gift of education back to the communities that raised her.