Sara Jiménez McSweyn is a senior lecturer at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work. She teaches clinical practice courses in children, youth and families, and held lead faculty roles for specific required MSW first year courses. She has participated in curricular activities related to course development and implementation as well as in special projects designed to strengthen the evidence-based practice models incorporated into the curricular clinical practice courses that focus on the children, youth and families population.
Professor McSweyn was born in San José, Costa Rica and grew up on the north coast of Honduras, emigrating to the United States with her family at age 13. Her migration experience has complemented her work with USC Social Work faculty colleague, Professor Omar Lopez, as co-instructor of the Pathways to Immigration course which focused on enhancing our MSW students’ understanding of the migratory experience through a social justice lens. She has presented at international conferences on this topic as well as on the adaptation of social work practice instruction and education for a virtual world of practice.
She has more than 35 years of experience as a licensed clinician specializing in social work practice with children and families in a variety of settings. Professor McSweyn is trained in several evidence-based models of practice designed to enhance the efficacy of service delivery. She has also engaged actively in macrosystemic community based social work practice, with a specific focus on addressing issues of social inequity, structural bias, and racism and organizational change. Her community advocacy work has garnered her recognition and awards from the City of Los Angeles, County of Los Angeles, and the California State Senate for outstanding leadership.
Professor McSweyn has helped develop MSW internship programs in nonprofit settings,  trained MSW students preparing for licensure in the state of California. and is actively involved in curricular activities in addition to serving for several years as the faculty co-advisor for the Latinx Social Work Caucus.