Rosa Cantu is an alumna of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), where she earned both her Bachelor's degree in Psychology and her Master's degree in Public Health. While at UTC, Cantu was actively involved in environmental health causes and served as the President for the UTC Lions Club. In 2019, she received the Inspiring Women in Lifelong Leadership (I WILL) Award from UTC's Center for Women and Gender Equity for her advocacy work in social and environmental justice issues. Cantu has an extensive background in program planning and implementation through her previous work with UTC and has been the program coordinator for the Coalition for Healthy and Safe Campus Communities (CHASCo) since 2022.