Dr. Kristina West Gordon is a full-time Assistant Professor at California Baptist University in the Division of Social Work. Her practice background spans over 10 years of direct service, as well as leadership experience in the child welfare field. She has accumulated extensive experience serving at-risk and marginalized populations, including foster youth and families who have experienced child abuse and neglect. Her experience in child welfare has led to her social work research focusing on multiple aspects of child welfare, including preventative factors decreasing the occurrence of child abuse and neglect, impacts of abuse and neglect, and parent training. Most recently, her research focused on intergenerational relationships as an avenue for sustainable support skill-building retention for at-risk families of child abuse and neglect. As an educator in higher education, Dr. Gordon's passion centers on developing the next generation of professional social workers. She hopes to inspire, encourage, and spark a love of Social Work by carefully setting a safe and inclusive stage for learning to occur.