Dr. Cecilia “CC” Suarez is an assistant professor in the Department of Agricultural Education and Communication (AEC) focusing on intercultural communication and global leadership. She also serves as a faculty affiliate of the Center for Latin American Studies, the Education Policy Research Center, and is the Faculty in Residence for Hispanic Latino Affairs within Multicultural and Diversity Affairs at UF. Suarez serves as the inaugural faculty president of the Latinx Staff and Faculty Association (LSFA) at UF and is on the executive board for Café Latino, a coalition within IFAS focused on serving the needs of the Latinx population in Florida.

Originally from San Antonio, Texas, Suarez completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of Miami in Florida, studying biology. She then earned her master’s degree in education from the Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. Suarez obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where she studied education policy and social and cultural foundations of education.

Suarez currently focuses her research on culturally relevant teaching and leadership development practices for marginalized communities and students in college, as well as how history, culture, and societal context impact the ways in which communities engage with each other.