Click on the nominee’s name to view photo, bio, and vision statement:
President-Elect nominees:
Karina L. Walters, PhD, MSW, University of Washington
James Herbert Williams, PhD, MSW, MPA, University of Denver
Vice President-Elect nominees:
Mark Courtney, PhD, MSW, University of Chicago
Diane DePanfilis, PhD, MSW, University of Maryland
Members-at-Large nominees:
Renee M. Cunningham-Williams, PhD, MPE, LCSW, Washington University in St. Louis
Michael A. Lindsey, PhD, MSW, MPH, New York University
Lena Lundgren, PhD, Boston University
Trina Shanks, PhD, MSW, MPhil, University of Michigan
| QUICK LINKS: | SSWR 2014 Board Elections Home | Vote Here (deadline: Friday, 12/19/2014) |
View Descriptions of Open Positions | Download PDF Election Materials |
University of Washington
Karina L. Walters, PhD, MSW
University of Washington
Karina L. Walters, an enrolled member of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, is the Associate Dean for Research, the William P. and Ruth Gerberding University Endowed Professor, and the Director and Principal Investigator of the Indigenous Wellness Research Institute (IWRI; NIMHD P60MD006909) at the University of Washington. IWRI is one of 16 National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities Comprehensive Centers of Excellence and one of two devoted to American Indian and Alaska Native (AIAN) research and researcher development in the country.
Dr. Walters has over 20 years of experience in social epidemiological research on the historical, social, and cultural determinants of physical and mental health disparities among AIAN populations. She has worked specifically in chronic disease treatment and prevention research (e.g., HIV, substance use, CVD, diabetes, and obesity) in Indian Country as well. Dr. Walters’ primary focus is on elucidating the factors associated with the intergenerational transmission of trauma, identification of culturally protective factors in stress-coping processes, as well as methodological advancement, including development of culturally based measures and innovative sampling to access difficult-to-reach populations. Dr. Walters has been invited to present at over 320 regional, national and international conferences; and has had the honor of being an invited speaker for Wednesday Afternoon Lecture Series (WALS) at the National Institute of Health (NIH); and was a Fulbright scholar at Ngā Pae o te Maramatanga National Institute for Research Excellence in Maori Advancement at the University of Auckland, New Zealand. Dr. Walters has developed collaborative research and research training partnerships with numerous international and national organizations and has served as host organizer and Chair for several national and international conferences on Indigenous health.
Dr. Walters has served as Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on 37 National Institute of Health (NIH) grants (13 as PI) from diverse NIH institutes including NIDA, NIAAA, NIMH, NIMHD, NHLBI, & NCCAM; has mentored over 90 scholars from historically underrepresented populations including 35 American Indian or Alaska Native scholars; and has participated in 14 national research training programs for underrepresented ethnic minority scholars. Dr. Walters is frequently called upon to serve on NIH study sections and working groups
Dr. Walters received her B.A. (sociology) in 1987, her M.S.W. (clinical) in 1990, and her Ph.D. in 1995 all from the University of California, Los Angeles. After serving on faculty as an Assistant and Associate Professor at Columbia University School of Social Work (1995-2001), Dr. Walters joined the University of Washington faculty as an Associate Professor in 2001 and became Full Professor in 2011. She has served as Director of the Doctoral Program (2003-05), Associate Dean for Research (since 2012), and is founding Director of the IWRI (since 2005). She holds an adjunct faculty position in the Department of Global Health, School of Public Health at the UW. Prior to her career in academia, Dr. Walters was a psychotherapist in Los Angeles, working in community mental health with traumatized populations and was a two-time mayoral appointee as Commissioner for the Los Angeles City and County American Indian Commission.
VISION STATEMENT
I am deeply honored to be nominated for the position of President-Elect of SSWR. As the leading social work research organization in the country committed to promoting social justice and rigorous research, I would be thrilled to serve in this capacity. With its historical roots and mission in social justice, social work is poised to be the scientific field providing research answers to the grand challenges of the 21st Century. With social work’s research emphasis on the design of culturally derived and community-based research; its emphasis on holistic, culturally protective factors, strengths, and resiliency; and the development of novel community-grounded interventions that address socio-cultural context, we are uniquely positioned to provide research leadership to address the struggles of our times. SSWR not only has the capability as the foremost national social work research organization, but the responsibility to provide cogent leadership to identify innovative, culturally grounded research practice and policy solutions to reduce disparities and to promote equity nationwide. Since its inception, SSWR has made great strides toward fulfilling its original aims including: fostering rigorous research that enhances knowledge about critical social work practice and policy problems; advancing social work research national networks; and advocating for increased funding as well as research training opportunities. Over the past two decades, SSWR has grown a diverse membership body whose research leadership spans countries thereby creating opportunity for harnessing our collective knowledge to address 21st century challenges. SSWR’s board initiated a strategic plan (2012-2017) to ensure a responsive research workforce to address the great social challenges of our times. If elected, I will work closely with the Board to advance these strategic goals and initiatives with a particular focus on: (1) strengthening research mentorship for early career investigators, particularly from historically underrepresented and oppressed populations; (2) amplifying social work’s aptitude for conducting innovative, culturally responsive research; (3) increasing social work’s ability to procure NIH and other federal funding for research and research training activities; and (4) expanding and strengthening international trans-disciplinary research networks for knowledge transfer and exchange.
SSWR is primed to make a powerful contribution towards a national research agenda to eradicate inequities. In many ways, social work research interventions have been our body, prevention our mind, but equity is our soul. I am excited and honored to work with SSWR’s membership to advance our social work research capacity-by integrating our research mind, body, and spirit to accomplish these goals.
University of Denver
James Herbert Williams, PhD, MSW, MPA
University of Denver
James Herbert Williams is Dean and Milton Morris Endowed Chair at the Graduate School of Social Work at the University of Denver. His research focuses on human security and economic sustainability, health promotion and disease prevention, behavioral health disparities and health equity, global practice and sustainable development, adolescent violence and substance use, mental health services for African American children in urban schools, disproportionate minority confinement of African American youth in the juvenile justice system, school safety and violence prevention, and community strategies for positive youth development. James Herbert joined the University of Denver faculty as dean in 2007; prior to his appointment as Dean, he was the Foundation Professor of Youth and Diversity at the School of Social Work at Arizona State University and the E. Desmond Lee Professor of Racial and Ethnic Diversity at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis. He also served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the Brown School. His funded research and training includes grants from NICHD, NIMH, NIDDK, DOJ, DOE, DHHS, UNCRD, OMH, and the Danforth Foundation. His scholarship has been published in several health and social science journals.
James Herbert is currently the Editor-in-Chief for Social Work Research. He is a member of International Editorial Advisory Board for Regional Development Studies; member of the Editorial Board for the Journal of Adolescent Health; and member of the Scientific and Technical Advisory Group for the Global Risk Forum’s One Health Initiative. James Herbert has held various leadership roles including President of the National Association of Deans and Directors of Schools of Social Work (NADD), and three CSWE Commissions (Educational Policy, Diversity and Social and Economic Justice, Information Management and Research); a member of the Action Network for Social Work Education and Research (ANSWER), a board member of the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research (IASWR), a member of the International Committee of the National Association of Social Work, and he has twice served as a member of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) Board of Directors both as a member-at-large and as Vice-President. He served as a member of the NADD strategic planning task force and co-chair of the NADD task force on health disparities.
James Herbert received his B.A. from Grambling State University, his MSW from Smith College, his MPA from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, and his PhD from the University of Washington, Seattle.
VISION STATEMENT
I am very pleased to be nominated for the position of President-Elect. I have been a member of SSWR from its inception and have previously served in a leadership capacity as a member of the board. I am committed to SSWR’s mission to advance social work research and collaboration with other organizations to improve support for research for social work scholars. I will support efforts to promote the inter-professional translation of research for practice and policy. While it is critical that SSWR continue to endorse research and knowledge development that adhere to rigorous standards, it is also SSWR’s responsibility as an organization to promote high quality social work research across all substantive areas and diverse populations. In order to achieve these objectives, I believe SSWR should engage in thoughtful planning and continuous visioning for growth and resources that will continue SSWR on the upward trajectory. Should I be elected as President-Elect, I will actively work as President-Elect, President and as a board member to develop innovative initiatives and opportunities to engage all SSWR constituents and stakeholders in the social work research enterprise. I will also continue to promote and develop mentoring programs to further develop career paths for doctoral students, and early and mid-level researchers. I also plan to lead board activities to advance the effectiveness of SSWR efforts to engage university, private and public partners to promote the mission and vision of the organization. I am excited about the opportunity to support SSWR as President-Elect and as President to advance the research capacity of social work.
University of Chicago
Mark E. Courtney, PhD, MSW
University of Chicago
Mark E. Courtney is a Professor in the School of Social Service Administration at the University of Chicago. He has also served on the faculties of the University of Wisconsin (1992-2000) and University of Washington (2007-2010). His fields of interest include child welfare policy and services, the interaction of child welfare services with other institutions serving low-income families, the transition to adulthood for vulnerable populations, and the professionalization of social work.
Dr. Courtney is an affiliate of Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago, which he served as Director from 2001 to 2006. He was also the founding director, from 2007 to 2009, of Partners for Our Children (POC), a public-private partnership housed at the University of Washington devoted to improving child welfare services. POC received the 2008 American Public Human Services Association Award for Academic Excellence. Dr. Courtney is a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and a Society for Social Work and Research Fellow. He received the 2010 Forsythe Award for leadership in public child welfare from the National Association of Public Child Welfare Administrators and was named Social Worker of the Year in 2000 by the Wisconsin Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers. He was a member of the Committee on Improving the Health, Safety, and Well-Being of Young Adults of the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council (2013-2014) and the MacArthur Foundation Research Network on Transitions to Adulthood and Public Policy (2003-2010).
Dr. Courtney received an A.B. in Social Science from the University of California at Berkeley, MSW and PhD degrees from the School of Social Welfare there, and a M.A. in Clinical Psychology from the John F. Kennedy University. Before moving into academia, he worked in various capacities providing group care to abused and neglected adolescents.
VISION STATEMENT
I would be deeply honored to serve as SSWR’s next Vice President-Elect. I came to social work back in the 1980s after beginning a career as a clinical psychologist. While working in California’s child welfare system, encounters with highly skilled social workers convinced me that they had been provided with a broader range of tools than clinical psychology had provided me to help the marginalized children and families with whom I worked. I went back to school hoping that becoming a social work scholar and educator would allow me to have a greater impact than I would as a clinician, by empowering me to help create effective child welfare policies, programs, and practices. I have never regretted that decision. Moreover, after 25 years I am more convinced than ever that social work is the essential profession for those wanting to make our social policies and services tools for achieving social justice. That being said, I am also constantly reminded that our reach too often exceeds our grasp; while our knowledge base has grown by leaps and bounds, we still have far to go in generating the evidence needed to adequately support the work of the profession.
As Vice President-Elect and then Vice President, my primary responsibility would be helping to develop the annual conference program and research training workshops, in support of SSWR’s strategic plan. My experience working in trans-disciplinary research centers at top research universities (Chicago, Wisconsin, and Washington) will inform my efforts to strengthen the conference’s connections to relevant scholarship, and scholars, from the disciplines and other professions. Likewise, my experience managing applied research centers with connections to a wide range of research funders and public institutions that are consumers of research will inform my efforts to help make the conference and the organization better resources for new, and seasoned, social work scholars.
University of Maryland
Diane DePanfilis, PhD, MSW
University of Maryland
Diane DePanfilis, PhD, MSW is Professor and former Associate Dean for Research and Director of the Ruth Young Center for Families and Children at the University of Maryland School of Social Work. Her research focuses on the epidemiology and prevention of child maltreatment, child welfare related intervention research, and implementation science based studies that build understanding about what practices, policies, and programs are most effective for strengthening families with children.
Dr. DePanfilis is the developer of the Family Connections program, a social work intervention designed to support vulnerable families in their homes in the context of their neighborhoods to help them meet the basic needs of their children and prevent child maltreatment. Recognized by the USDHHS for its efforts to prevent child maltreatment, Family Connections is being replicated in multiple sites across the United States. She has received extensive federal funding to develop and test this intervention and has also been the PI on numerous other federal funded studies, including receipt of one of five regional child welfare implementation center awards designed to support state and tribal child welfare systems to implement and evaluate major system and practice changes.
Professor DePanfilis’ research has been recognized through multiple awards including selection as the Aaron Rosen Lecturer at SSWR in 2012, appointment to the Inaugural class of Fellows of the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) based on service with distinction to advance the mission of the Society, induction as a Fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, and selection by the University of Maryland, Baltimore leadership as a UMB Champion of Excellence, in recognition of extraordinary accomplishment and excellence at the University. She serves on numerous editorial boards and is a Section editor for the Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research (JSSWR).
VISION STATEMENT
As a long-term member of SSWR, having presented at the first national conference in DC, I am honored to be nominated for the position of Vice President-Elect. I was a Board Member at large from 2007 to 2010 where my primary role was to support membership development and serve on the Conference Committee. I have been on the Editorial Board of the JSSWR since its beginning and currently serve as the Child Welfare Section editor. I am also currently co-editing a special issue of the JSSWR on intervention research.
SSWR has substantially evolved since its inception and has become a major national society for social work researchers of all kinds. The membership conducts diverse social work research (e.g., quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods) and members are continually looking for ways to network with other scholars (i.e., an expanded network of social work interest groups at the annual conference). An important expanding role for the Society is to support the professional development of beginning research scholars.
A key responsibility of the Vice President-Elect is to plan the annual national conference including listening to members about their interest in special institutes and workshops, assuring that the cluster categories are responsive to the diverse research of members, and assuring the equitable peer review process. I have considerable experience in the implementation of past SSWR conferences as I served as Co-Chair of the Child Welfare Cluster for seven years and worked diligently with other conference committee members to strengthen the abstract review process in clusters that matched the research focus of its members. I would like to build on SSWR’s past record of promoting excellence in social work research through an opportunity to serve on the Board in the position of Vice President-Elect and to plan an exciting and innovative national conference.
Washington University in St. Louis
Renee M. Cunningham-Williams, PhD, MPE, LCSW
Washington University in St. Louis
Dr. Renee M. Cunningham- Williams is Associate Professor and Associate Dean of the Doctoral Program at the Brown School, Washington University (WU) in St. Louis. She complemented her social work training (BSW, Howard University; MSW/ PhD, Brown School), with NIH postdoctoral training in psychiatric epidemiology and biostatistics (MPE, WU School of Medicine -Psychiatry). As a Psychiatry faculty member (1996-2005), she taught in the psychiatry residency program, co-directed a graduate medicine program, and provided leadership in two NIH training programs. She joined the Brown School in 2005, where she teaches master-level and doctoral-level courses in research methods, program evaluation, and professional development. She directs a NIDA T32 pre/postdoctoral program, now in its 12th year, focusing on transdisciplinary training in addictions research. She is the recipient of several early NIH mentorship opportunities, beginning with a NIH-MARC undergraduate fellowship. She has successfully built a program of investigator-initiated NIH and privately funded research, spanning the last 20 years, and centered on gambling and addictions, sexual risk-taking/HIV, psychiatric comorbidity, and vulnerable youth/emerging adults. She has guided the science in gambling disorder and comorbidity as an Institute of Medicine panelist, journal reviewer, editorial board member, and expert consultant, nationally and internationally. As a seasoned grant reviewer, she was a standing member of the NIH Risk, Prevention, and Intervention for Addictions study section (2007-2011). As a GADE taskforce member, she coauthored the revised “Quality Guidelines for PhD Programs in Social Work” and now serves as an elected GADE Steering Committee member. She has received awards/honors for teaching/mentorship and service contributions. Her research has been widely recognized by the NIH, American Society for Addiction Medicine, and American Psychopathological Association, among others. She is guided by her passion to improve the lives of African American and vulnerable populations, experiencing both risk and resilience, particularly as they transition into adulthood.
VISION STATEMENT
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “…the best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” I am grounded in and energized by that perspective. As an extension, when I think about what service means in the context of leadership, I believe that the true mark of a leader is the selfless act of service to others. In that spirit, I view service on the SSWR Board as another way to bring leadership to the service of the social work research profession. Since joining in 2005, I have been a regular SSWR presenter, abstract reviewer, and session moderator.
As a Board Member-At-Large, I will work to realize the goals articulated in the SSWR strategic plan. I aim to assist in the places where my skills and experiences intersect with SSWR’s greatest needs. Specifically, I bring two decades of research, teaching/mentorship, leadership, and administrative experiences in all levels of social work education (and within transdisciplinary contexts) to SSWR’s efforts aimed to: 1) build capacity among doctoral students and early career scientists for national and global research and leadership roles; 2) leverage my current GADE leadership involvements, to collaborative efforts in planning the SSWR doctoral student and networking events, as well as expanding and tailoring involvements for those in postdoctoral training; 3) support SSWR’s efforts to not only increase funding opportunities for social work research, but to provide and expand the right mix of career development and mentorship opportunities, to best position new, mid-career and underrepresented investigators for these opportunities; and 4) assist efforts to expand ways to recruit, retain, and celebrate social work contributions among SSWR members across the career trajectory. I truly appreciate and am equally humbled by being nominated for SSWR board membership. Should I be elected, I will work both tirelessly and enthusiastically in this leadership role to, as Gandhi says…“find myself in the service” of the SSWR membership.
New York University
Michael A. Lindsey, PhD, MSW, MPH
New York University
Dr. Michael Lindsey is currently an Associate Professor at the Silver School of Social Work, New York University. Dr. Lindsey earned a Ph.D. in Social Work and a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh, a Master’s in Social Work from Howard University, and a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Morehouse College. He also completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University.
Dr. Lindsey’s rich academic research portfolio focuses on improving child and adolescent mental health outcomes and services. He has received research support from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) for the examination of the influences of social networks in impacting perceived and actual barriers to the utilization of mental health services amongst African American adolescent males with depression. Dr. Lindsey’s current research, funded by NIMH and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, involves the development and test of a treatment engagement intervention that promotes access to and use of mental health services among depressed adolescents in school- and in community-based treatment.
Dr. Lindsey’s professional affiliations include membership in the Ford Foundation Scholars Network on Masculinity and the Wellbeing of African American Males; the Emerging Scholars Interdisciplinary Network; and the Mental Health Education Integration Consortium. In July 2013, he was appointed to a 4-year term as a standing member of the NIMH Mental Health Services Research (SERV) study section. His authored and co-authored research has appeared in the American Journal of Community Psychology, American Journal of Men’s Health, Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, Journal of Adolescent Health, Journal Clinical Child & Adolescent Psychology, General Hospital Psychiatry, Prevention Science, Psychiatric Services, Research on Social Work Practice and in the journal Social Work.
VISION STATEMENT
My philosophical approach to social work research is anchored in a belief that sustained and highly innovative research is necessary to attenuate the factors leading to optimal health and social justice for underserved and marginalized populations. The advancement of science through the research-to-practice, practice-to-research continuum is a resounding imperative for the field of social work. If we are to meet the challenges faced by our society’s most vulnerable populations, then we must activate our scholar-practitioner agendas with the most swift and intense efforts. In my estimation, SSWR wholly embodies this imperative.
As a SSWR board member, I will demonstrate my expertise in a number of ways. First, my current membership on the NIMH SERV study section makes me acutely aware of the space in which innovative research can be effectively articulated by social scientists. I will contribute to the board’s continuing efforts to facilitate the development, disseminating and integration of cutting edge research and knowledge into practice and policies.
Second, the evolving landscape of health service delivery in the U.S. presents the field of social work with a unique opportunity to demonstrate leadership by identifying and highlighting the social determinants to health care needs and to develop the requisite interventions to improve access to and the quality of health care through rigorous, innovative science. I believe that the achievement of this end must be addressed through the prism of cross-disciplinary science, with social work research taking the lead as a profession with a long, successful history of effective practice, policy and research to address society shifts and the impact of these shifts on individuals, systems and policies. Training for junior scholars on cutting edge science and highlighting the important contributions of scholars and SSWR Fellows who successfully operate in this realm is the essence of SSWR and its impact on the field.
If elected to serve on the SSWR board, I plan to offer my scientific knowledge and critical thinking on how SSWR can continue its pursuits to advance the field of social work research and scholarship. My conversations with colleagues who have served on the board deepen my interest in joining this cadre of professionals committed to fortifying the field. For these reasons, I am so humbly honored to seek an assignment as a SSWR board member-at-large.
Boston University
Lena M. Lundgren, PhD
Boston University
Dr. Lundgren is the Associate Dean for Research, Director, the Center for Addictions Research and Services, and Professor at Boston University School of Social Work. Dr. Lundgren is first generation college educated, born in Sweden, north of the Arctic Circle.
She specializes in longitudinal quantitative data analyses to evaluate the use and efficacy of substance abuse treatments, especially with regard to disparities in access to treatment. Dr. Lundgren has been PI on numerous grant-funded research projects totaling over $7M, from both federal government (SAMHSA, CSAT, HRSA) and major foundations (RWJ, Sloan Foundation). She is also skilled in research focused on and committed to community-based collaborations for underserved, diverse populations, including a large national study to examine organizational and staff factors that facilitate/ impede the implementation of evidence-based treatments. Dr. Lundgren’s research is highly interdisciplinary. This year Dr. Lundgren was asked, as the first social work researcher, to host the Addiction Health Services Research conference and chose to collaborate with colleagues from the BU Schools of Medicine and Public Health on the theme of “Research on Integrating Addiction, Mental Health and Medical Care Services.” Her other accomplishments include the 2014 Aaron Rosen Lecturer at SSWR; consulting editor for Social Work; NIH grant proposal reviewer; guest editor for special issues of Evaluation and Program Planning (1998, 2007; 2011; 2015); expert panel member on HIV transmission for the World Health Organization (WHO); and PI of a longitudinal study funded by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare using register-data examining addiction treatment outcomes. Dr. Lundgren has written 64 peer-reviewed articles, 10 book chapters and provided 50+ presentations at juried conferences. Dr. Lundgren takes on leadership roles within the institutions she works, on the BU Provost’s request, she currently serves a second term as Chair of the University’s Appointment Tenure and Promotion Committee.
VISION STATEMENT
I would be truly honored to serve on the board of the Society for Social Work Research. My vision as a SSWR board member is threefold. First, I want to continue my efforts to help increase the impact and visibility of social work research. For example, in hosting the 2014 AHSR conference, I not only made certain that Social Work researchers and policy makers were at the table, I also made certain that they had key roles at this conference. Further, throughout the conference, I highlighted our profession’s capacity to assume leadership roles both in the research on and integration of behavioral and medical care, and to develop policy and research to reduce health disparities in addictions treatment and HIV prevention.
Second, I have a strong commitment to work for a more just society and to reduce health disparities. Whereas I love my research, I also try to never forget that we as social workers and social work research should always strive to have direct impact in our society. Therefore, I believe one of my greatest accomplishments has been to my choice to work with two community based health organizations, Casa Esperanza and Tapestry Health System, for more than 15 years and together with these organizations, my faculty colleagues and students, provide more than 20 million dollars in HIV prevention and addiction treatment to highly vulnerable populations.
Third, I will continue to strongly advocate for the need to mentor our students and junior faculty, not only in excellence in research but to take on leadership positions in research and practice. I am so very proud that my recent research mentoring has resulted in two junior faculty receiving NIH K01 awards as well as a range of other awards and I look forward to them becoming leaders in their field.
University of Michigan
Trina Shanks, PhD, MSW, MPhil
University of Michigan
Trina Shanks is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work and a Faculty Associate with the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She is also a Faculty Affiliate of the National Poverty Center. Dr. Shanks’ scholarship focuses on the impact of poverty and wealth on child outcomes, including place-based social and economic development, asset building policy and practice across the life course, and youth employment initiatives. Her research is concerned with the economic insecurity faced by many children and families in the United States, particularly the substantial and growing wealth gap between White households and households of color. She uses her empirical and intervention research to collaborate with practitioners and inform policymakers. She has testified before Congress on the topic of building assets for low-income families and child savings account policy and from 2010-2012 she served as an appointed member of the Governor’s Commission on Community Action and Economic Opportunity in Michigan. As a member of the Detroit Youth Employment Consortium, she evaluates summer employment programs in the city and suggests innovative additions to local efforts. Her work has been funded by the Ford Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation, other local and community foundations as well as a supplemental grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD).
Dr. Shanks received her B.S., MSW and PhD degrees from Washington University in St. Louis. She also has a Masters of Philosophy in Comparative Social Research from the University of Oxford where she was a Rhodes Scholar.
The author of more than 40 publications, Dr. Shanks received the 2011 Marie Weil Outstanding Article of the Year Award from the Journal of Community Practice. She recently co-authored an edited volume titled The Assets Perspective: The Rise of Asset Building and its Impact on Social Policy. She serves on the editorial board of several journals, including Children and Youth Services Review and the Journal of Children and Poverty and reviews regularly for others. Shanks presents regularly at national and international conferences. She is a member of several professional associations, including Council on Social Work Education and the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management and serves on the Academic Working Group for Child and Youth Finance International. She teaches courses in the areas of macro practice and social welfare policy.
VISION STATEMENT
At a time in the United States when median incomes are stagnant, social spending is shrinking, and confidence in government is waning, social work has an opportunity to lead the nation in a better direction. As a profession that conducts rigorous research and also works with practitioners and policymakers at all levels, we are in a position not only to understand complex social and economic trends but to introduce proven interventions that can respond effectively.
If elected to serve on the SSWR board, there are several areas in which I will contribute. I am committed to supporting rigorous research that advances social welfare practices and programs (Strategic Plan Goal 1) and fostering interdisciplinary networks in the United States and around the world (Strategic Plan Goal 2). I would like to continue SSWR’s tradition of organizing institutes and workshops around statistical methods and cutting edge research areas, particularly in areas such as reducing the long-term impact of trauma and toxic stress and cross-generational poverty analysis. In addition, I would like to serve as a liaison between the organization and policymakers in Washington, DC. I have partnered with Urban Institute, the New America Foundation, Global Policy Solutions and other similar organizations to develop research-informed national policy agendas. A similar approach could be developed for social work research priorities. In addition, having collaborated with colleagues in law, economics, business, psychology, public health and public policy in my own research, I would like to contribute to developing networking conversations and planning meetings to support the research interests of SSWR members. This can be done in conjunction with the annual meeting, but I would also like to reach out to international colleagues to draw them in to relevant opportunities also. My connection to Child and Youth Finance International has introduced me to researchers and practitioners throughout the world. In addition, I have visited partner universities in Ecuador and helped to connect University of Michigan students to research opportunities in that country. Although I would gladly serve on any committee to which I am assigned, I would enjoy working to help maintain the quality of conference presentations and reliable reviews as well as seeking ways to increase membership and ensure that the organization remains relevant across a diverse constituency.