Angelina Valdespino is an Assistant Professor in the School of Social Work at New Mexico State University and a licensed clinical social worker. Her research centers the intersection of trauma, neurodevelopment, relational violence, and advocacy practice. She also examines workforce sustainability and professional quality of life among mental health providers in the U.S.–Mexico border region, as well as innovations in social work education, including advanced technology integration.

She earned her BSW from New Mexico State University in 2011 and her MSW from San Diego State University in 2012 and is the founder of a community-based group practice in Las Cruces, New Mexico, intentionally structured around equity, accessibility, and culturally responsive, trauma-responsive care. Her clinical work spans diverse levels of care with emphasis on attachment, neurodivergence, complex trauma, and family systems. She also provides clinical supervision and mentorship to developing clinicians. She teaches advanced practice courses at the MSW level through the Global Campus, serves as Chair of the Diversity & Social Justice Committee, and holds leadership within the National Association of Social Workers – New Mexico Chapter. Across her teaching, practice, scholarship, and leadership, her work advances social justice within systems of care through a relational and systems-oriented lens.