{"id":19030,"date":"2016-11-02T16:28:14","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T20:28:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.cos.ucf.edu\/?p=19030"},"modified":"2024-08-16T09:43:04","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T13:43:04","slug":"sociology-alumna-empowers-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Sociology Alumna Empowers Women"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

An alumna from the University of Central Florida is using her people skills to support women in her community.<\/p>\n

M\u00f3nica M\u00e9ndez, Ph.D., \u201902, \u201908, was honored on March 3 as a 2016 College of Sciences Outstanding AlumKnight <\/a>award recipient by the Department of Sociology<\/a> at UCF. M\u00e9ndez currently serves as the CEO of Dress for Success Pittsburgh<\/a>, an organization that focuses on empowering women through financial independence.<\/p>\n

M\u00e9ndez received her master\u2019s degree in criminal justice<\/a> from UCF in 2002, and her doctorate degree in sociology in 2008. Since then, she has remained an active member of the community. She has volunteered as a guest speaker for sociology classes and events and as a researcher working on projects with her former colleagues. She is also a faithful fan of UCF athletics, and returns for games when she can.<\/p>\n

UCF Victim Services<\/a> is the University\u2019s on-campus counseling center for anyone affected by any type of abuse. It also educates about and advocates for the elimination of violence \u2013 just like M\u00e9ndez does now at her job. She interned with the organization while she was a student, and credits it with giving her a foundation for her career.<\/p>\n

She also said that the Departments of Sociology and Criminal Justice prepared her well for her transition into the workforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe departments both had great courses, like statistics, which gave me the tools to become a real agent of change,\u201d M\u00e9ndez said. \u201cThese skills allowed me to view the world through a unique point of view, from both an academic sense and applied sense. My degrees have been invaluable to my success.\u201d<\/p>\n

M\u00e9ndez said that she chose the UCF Department of Sociology for her doctoral degree because its program deals specifically with domestic abuse. Her interest in women\u2019s rights and advocacy drew her to the degree, and the faculty convinced her further.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter doing research I realized what a great team of professors the department had,\u201d M\u00e9ndez said. \u201cThey were at the top of the field in which I was interested. I know I made the right choice in going to UCF.\u201d<\/p>\n

M\u00e9ndez worked as the managing editor for an academic journal while she was a student. She recalled many fond memories at a local Mexican restaurant with her fellow doctoral students \u2013 they made it a tradition to get lunch there. She\u2019s always been a huge fan of UCF sports as well. She and her husband traveled to Arizona to see the football team compete in the Fiesta bowl in January of 2014.<\/p>\n

M\u00e9ndez now works at Dress for Success in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The company\u2019s goal is to help women by providing the professional tools they need to succeed at jobs. M\u00e9ndez said that the people she has met have been the best part of her career.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy job allows me to not just run a company, but run a company that really changes lives,\u201d M\u00e9ndez said. \u201cIt’s been a privilege to have worked with and met so many great women and men in the field, and those are my greatest memories.\u201d<\/p>\n

UCF has served as a vehicle to launch M\u00e9ndez into her life of serving others. She shared her experienced words of advice for current students and alumni.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnjoy the people you meet along the way,\u201d she said. \u201cThey make the journeys we take memorable and worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An alumna from the University of Central Florida is using her people skills to support women in her community. M\u00f3nica M\u00e9ndez, Ph.D., \u201902, \u201908, was honored on March 3 as a 2016 College of Sciences Outstanding AlumKnight award recipient by the Department of Sociology at UCF. M\u00e9ndez currently serves as the CEO of Dress for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":127,"featured_media":19031,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[31,3,38,13,41,28,29],"tags":[740,817,1085,2325,3644,3646,3671],"class_list":["post-19030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni-news","category-awards","category-breaking-news","category-news","category-shining-knights","category-top-news","category-ucf-news","tag-college-of-sciences-outstanding-alumknight","tag-criminal-justice","tag-dress-for-success","tag-monica-mendez","tag-ucf-sociology","tag-ucf-sociology-alumni-spotlight","tag-ucf-victim-services"],"yoast_head":"\nSociology Alumna Empowers Women - College of Sciences News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Sociology Alumna Empowers Women - College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An alumna from the University of Central Florida is using her people skills to support women in her community. M\u00f3nica M\u00e9ndez, Ph.D., \u201902, \u201908, was honored on March 3 as a 2016 College of Sciences Outstanding AlumKnight award recipient by the Department of Sociology at UCF. M\u00e9ndez currently serves as the CEO of Dress for […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College of Sciences News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-11-02T20:28:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-16T13:43:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/11\/Mendez-Sociology-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anna Johnson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anna Johnson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Anna Johnson\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b4aad22f2ce3a4e63ddf5cebf03017f\"},\"headline\":\"Sociology Alumna Empowers Women\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-02T20:28:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-16T13:43:04+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":569,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Mendez-Sociology-e1478118522934.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"College of Sciences Outstanding AlumKnight\",\"Criminal Justice\",\"Dress for Success\",\"Monica Mendez\",\"UCF Sociology\",\"UCF Sociology Alumni Spotlight\",\"UCF Victim Services\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni News\",\"Awards\",\"COS News\",\"News\",\"Shining Knights\",\"Top News\",\"UCF News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\\\/\",\"name\":\"Sociology Alumna Empowers Women - College of Sciences News\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Mendez-Sociology-e1478118522934.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-11-02T20:28:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-08-16T13:43:04+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b4aad22f2ce3a4e63ddf5cebf03017f\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Mendez-Sociology-e1478118522934.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/29\\\/2016\\\/11\\\/Mendez-Sociology-e1478118522934.jpg\",\"width\":300,\"height\":333,\"caption\":\"A woman smiling and holding an award in front of a ucf alumni backdrop with logo. she wears a black patterned dress.\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/\",\"name\":\"College of Sciences News\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sciences.ucf.edu\\\/news\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b4aad22f2ce3a4e63ddf5cebf03017f\",\"name\":\"Anna Johnson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1bca224f85cda07f66af4f541e660978b0f835af35e4e81e931d47d5c392bafe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1bca224f85cda07f66af4f541e660978b0f835af35e4e81e931d47d5c392bafe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/1bca224f85cda07f66af4f541e660978b0f835af35e4e81e931d47d5c392bafe?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Anna Johnson\"},\"url\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Sociology Alumna Empowers Women - College of Sciences News","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Sociology Alumna Empowers Women - College of Sciences News","og_description":"An alumna from the University of Central Florida is using her people skills to support women in her community. M\u00f3nica M\u00e9ndez, Ph.D., \u201902, \u201908, was honored on March 3 as a 2016 College of Sciences Outstanding AlumKnight award recipient by the Department of Sociology at UCF. M\u00e9ndez currently serves as the CEO of Dress for […]","og_url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/","og_site_name":"College of Sciences News","article_published_time":"2016-11-02T20:28:14+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-16T13:43:04+00:00","og_image":[{"width":480,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/11\/Mendez-Sociology-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Anna Johnson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Anna Johnson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/"},"author":{"name":"Anna Johnson","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7b4aad22f2ce3a4e63ddf5cebf03017f"},"headline":"Sociology Alumna Empowers Women","datePublished":"2016-11-02T20:28:14+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-16T13:43:04+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/"},"wordCount":569,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/11\/Mendez-Sociology-e1478118522934.jpg","keywords":["College of Sciences Outstanding AlumKnight","Criminal Justice","Dress for Success","Monica Mendez","UCF Sociology","UCF Sociology Alumni Spotlight","UCF Victim Services"],"articleSection":["Alumni News","Awards","COS News","News","Shining Knights","Top News","UCF News"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/","url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/","name":"Sociology Alumna Empowers Women - College of Sciences News","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/11\/Mendez-Sociology-e1478118522934.jpg","datePublished":"2016-11-02T20:28:14+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-16T13:43:04+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7b4aad22f2ce3a4e63ddf5cebf03017f"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/sociology-alumna-empowers-women\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/11\/Mendez-Sociology-e1478118522934.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2016\/11\/Mendez-Sociology-e1478118522934.jpg","width":300,"height":333,"caption":"A woman smiling and holding an award in front of a ucf alumni backdrop with logo. she wears a black patterned dress."},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/","name":"College of Sciences News","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/7b4aad22f2ce3a4e63ddf5cebf03017f","name":"Anna Johnson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bca224f85cda07f66af4f541e660978b0f835af35e4e81e931d47d5c392bafe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bca224f85cda07f66af4f541e660978b0f835af35e4e81e931d47d5c392bafe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1bca224f85cda07f66af4f541e660978b0f835af35e4e81e931d47d5c392bafe?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Anna Johnson"},"url":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/127"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19030"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33809,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19030\/revisions\/33809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}