News Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has announced Texas resident Cynthia “Cy” Herrera, JD, as the recipient of the Public Citizen of the Year Award for her work in the health and wellness of those living with HIV in her community.  

The NASW Public Citizen of The Year Award honors a remarkable member of the community whose achievements exemplify the values and mission of professional social work. The award recipient is not a social worker. 

Cynthia Herrera was honored with this award because she is a compassionate, powerful advocate. She has worked with social workers and uses her legal skills to push for individual and community wellness and bring about positive outcomes.

As the executive director of ASHwell, a holistic sexual health and wellness center located in Austin, TX, Herrera works to provide stigma-free, clinical care to end Hepatitis C and HIV within the LGBTQIA2S+ community as well as communities of color. 

Previously the CEO of Project Transitions, Herrera oversaw a successful $3.5-million capital campaign to construct 101 affordable housing units for people in Central Texas who live with HIV. 

 While working as an attorney with the Texas Advocacy Project, Herrera advocated for survivors of domestic violence, stalking, and sexual assault. She founded the first medical-legal partnership program in Austin, working with local health providers to detect and stop ongoing intimate-partner violence directed at patients who sought medical attention. 

 As a result, hundreds of health providers at community-based health care organizations and major hospitals were trained on what is known as the upstream medical-legal partnership model of patient-client care, saving lives and money. In 2018, in partnership with Community Health Empowerment, she created a free legal clinic for LGBTQIA2S+ community members. 

 A graduate of Loyola University Chicago School of Law with a Juris Doctor and holder of a Certificate in Health Law from the Beazley Institute for Health Law and Policy, Herrera’s interest in public health began as a volunteer at The University of Michigan Law School Pediatric Advocacy Initiative.  

 Also, as a student attorney in a groundbreaking medical-legal partnership clinic at Loyola, she worked with medical and social work students to stop renters from being evicted. Herrera also worked to improve dangerous housing conditions. She was a member of the National Lawyers Guild and Officer of the Latino Law Student Association. 

NASW is proud to recognize Herrera as the recipient of the NASW National Public Citizen of the Year Award. Her work embodies many of the values of the social work profession, including helping meet the basic needs of all people and advocating for the most vulnerable and oppressed in our society.