Stacy Kratz joined USC in 2011 and became senior lecturer in the school's Virtual Academic Center in 2015. Kratz specializes in policy practice and brings to her classroom an expertise and array of experiences as a licensed clinician and certified addictions professional, researcher, community advocate, and organizer in diverse settings.
She started in social work as a family advocate and clinical therapist at MacDill Air Force Base, and has worked on multiple community-based program development projects throughout Florida.
In addition to, and complimenting her work with students, Kratz serves as founding Chair of the Tampa Bay, Florida, Refugee Task Force Mental Health Committee. Recent projects include leading an interdisciplinary team of refugee-serving providers to expand evidence-based mental health treatment options, especially for survivors of torture, and leading a research work team to coordinate with a national foundation on developing refugee mental health evaluation strategies. Kratz also serves as member of the Tampa Bay Domestic Violence Task Force and Fatality Review Board, examining every intimate partner violence homicide in order to make improvements in the system that serves victims of domestic violence.
Kratz has been awarded numerous community-impact awards by organizations across disciplines. Some of these awards include the National Association of Social Workers Tampa Bay Social Worker of the Year, University of South Florida Public Health Community Partner of the Year, Tampa Bay Business Journal Non-Profit of the Year, Conn Family Foundation Social Work Scholar, Project Prosper Empowerment Award, and the annual Human Rights Award of the Tampa Bay Human Rights Council.
Impacted by her work with refugees and asylees, as a PhD Candidate, Kratz investigates health promotion and disease prevention communication. Specifically, she utilizes a constructivist grounded theory approach in understanding how mother/daughter dyads communicate what constitutes health and sexual health, to better understand the process, action, and interaction of communication. In addition to this research, Kratz has presented papers and conducted trainings at numerous interdisciplinary conferences both in the United States and in South Africa, regarding current and emerging web-based technology to support teaching and learning.