Dr. Maria Elena Perez

PhD, LCSW

Maria Elena Perez is a licensed psychologist and Vice President of Behavioral Health at Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers in Milwaukee. She attended Northern Illinois University where she earned her Bachelor’s degree in psychology in 1988. She later attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee for her Master’s degree in Educational Psychology and then practiced in mental health in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She helped launch the Behavioral Health department at the Sixteenth Street Community Health Centers in the late 90s and eventually went on to earn her Doctorate degree in Psychology at Marquette University in 2007. Additionally, she has taught courses at Marquette University, Milwaukee Area Technical College, Waukesha County Technical College and Lakeland University. She also performs psychological evaluations for the Disability Determination Bureau and has been on the Governor-appointed Milwaukee County Mental Health Board since its inception. She is currently the Chairwoman of the Board. She is published in the Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences and the Journal of Counseling Psychology and has an accomplished career in public speaking on a variety of topics in mental health. She has been featured on Telemundo's "Que Pasa Wisconsin," the magazine “Enterate,” Facebook Live, TEMPO Talks, and WUWM "Lake Effect" public radio. She has been a member of the American Psychological Association for over a decade. Maria Elena is daughter to Enrique and Teresa Perez, her parents who emigrated from Cuba in 1962. She was born in Chicago, Illinois and moved to Wisconsin in 1988. She is married to Robert Yaeger and has four children and three grandchildren. She currently resides in Waukesha. In her spare time, she enjoys reading, hiking and yoga.