Alumni Awards

Outstanding Alumni Award

The Outstanding Alumni Award is given to a Cal Lutheran graduate with a distinguished record of career achievements or humanitarian endeavors dedicated to social reform.

Sue Dwyer-Voss ’86

For 35 years, one guiding principle has shaped Sue Dwyer-Voss’ career as a school social worker: helping young people recognize their inherent worth and dignity. By creating a safe space of support for students struggling with a host of challenges — from anxiety and depression to living without parents to navigating their LGBTQ+ identities — Dwyer-Voss inspires hope in those who need it most. She earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology at Cal Lutheran, where professors challenged her to think critically about race, discrimination and justice, and to discover what kind of impact she could have on the world. After earning her master’s degree in clinical social work at the University of Chicago and becoming a Licensed Social Worker (LCSW), she found her calling in school-based social work. In 2020, Dwyer-Voss co-founded the CLU Peace and Social Justice scholarship, which has provided more than $25,000 to support nine Cal Lutheran students of color who are pursuing careers in social justice.

Honorary Alumni Award

The Honorary Alumni Award is given to those who have rendered a special and outstanding service to Cal Lutheran, or who by their personal achievement have brought honor and distinction to the university. They demonstrate achievement in service to Cal Lutheran and have received recognition from outside individuals or organizations.

Vanessa Frank, H ’24

Vanessa Frank has dedicated her career to serving immigrants with compassion and dignity. Growing up in Los Angeles, she saw first-hand her parents’ commitment to social justice; they taught her the importance of using her voice to affect change. Frank also was shaped by the stories of her immigrant grandparents and great-grandparents, instilling in her a deep appreciation of her Mexican heritage on her mother’s side and her Eastern European Jewish heritage on her father’s side. These influences guided Frank toward activism as a teen, which sparked a passion for social justice and ultimately inspired her path toward immigration law, which she has practiced for two decades, spearheading advocacy work, offering pro-bono legal services to immigrants and advising migrant-serving organizations in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. In 2009, she founded an immigration-focused law practice in Oxnard, representing clients before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Immigration Court. As an adjunct professor at Cal Lutheran, Frank’s thought provoking courses on ethics and religion — studied through the lens of immigration — have inspired students to think deeply about some of society’s most pressing questions.

Outstanding Young Alumni Award

The Outstanding Young Alumni Award honors alumni of the past 10 years who have brought honor and distinction to the university through career achievement and/or a commitment to human welfare and social reform.

Esmeralda Martinez-Rosales, MS ’23

Guided by a passion for helping people from traditionally underrepresented groups, Esmeralda Martinez-Rosales is dedicated to supporting students as they navigate the college experience. The child of Mexican immigrants and the youngest of six daughters, Martinez-Rosales assumed she would leave high school early and start working to support her family. Instead, she became the first member of her family to attend college. With the support of a high school guidance counselor and the dedication of her parents, she earned her bachelor’s degree in sociology from CSU Northridge. Driven to give back and help others realize their educational dreams, she earned her master’s degree in counseling and college student personnel from Cal Lutheran, while working full time. As a career and transfer specialist at Oxnard College, she draws on theories gleaned from her master’s program to take a holistic approach to her work. Many of the students she mentors are first- generation, juggling the demands of their studies with the need to provide financial support to their families. As a first-generation student who worked to support herself and her family while earning her degrees, Martinez-Rosales is an inspiration to her students, a daily reminder of what they, too, can achieve.