Women of Color and The Diversity of Social Work

Aida Manduley (Boston, MA) is an an award-winning Latinx activist, presenter, sexuality educator, social worker, and nonprofit management professional who likes big earrings, building bridges and color-coded spreadsheets. Aida received their MSW with certification in aging and macro sub-specialization from Boston University and their Bachelor’s in Gender & Sexuality Studies from Brown University. I first came across Aida when I joined the Women of Color Sexual Health Network, where they’re listed in the WOCSHN membership directory with specializations in organizational development, sexual stigma, kink/BDSM, non-monogamy, anti-racism, LGBTQ anti-violence, HIV prevention, & youth education.

What I’ve admired about Aida in their commitment to working and organizing at the intersections of equity, health, and digital literacy, and how they challenge other people of color to examine the ways in which we hold privilege and how those privileges play out in our personal and professional lives. What makes Aida stand out as a social worker is how they work at the intersections of macro-level preventions (through their blogging, trainings, and consulting work) and micro-level interventions via therapy with individuals, couples, and families. Sometimes social workers feel that we have center our social work practice in one level of social work, but blending a career in multiple levels of social work is definitely possible.

Sign up for Aida’s newsletter and follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Barbara Lee (D-CA) (Oakland, CA) represents California’s 13th Congressional District in the United States Congress. Congresswoman Lee received her Masters of Social Work from the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in psychiatric social work. I first learned about Congresswoman Lee while in college and a member of Advocates for Youth’s Young Women of Color Leadership Council. Under this leadership program, I developed an interest in advocacy and policymaking, and the first bill I ever read about was The Real Education for Healthy Youth Act (H.R.3602), a bill that champions for federal funding allocation towards comprehensive sexual health education programs.

What I’ve admired about Congresswoman Lee is her tireless activism for reproductive health, abortion rights, and racial justice. In addition to the Real Education for Healthy Youth Act, Congresswoman Lee is also the author of the Equal Access to Abortion Coverage in Health Insurance Act (H.R.771), also known as the EACH Woman Act. What makes Congresswoman Lee stand out as a social worker is the fact that she’s a policymaker.  We often associate social workers with only engaging with individuals, children, families, and couples. As a macro level social worker, Congresswoman Lee takes what she learned from the social work helping process in her clinical studies (assessment, planning, intervention, evaluation, termination) and works towards creating interventions through her policy work that affect communities at a larger scale. Congresswoman Lee is proof that everything you learn in your first year of your MSW program (which is mostly clinical) translates to any level of social work you go into.

Sign up for Congresswoman Lee’s newsletter and follow her on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Brittany Braithwaite (Brooklyn, NY) is a social worker of many talents. In addition to being a community organizer, she’s the co-founder of The Homegirl Box, a gift box inspired by the life and legacy of bold, fearless and visionary women, and the co-founder of KIMBRITIVE, a social startup that provides workshops, trainings, and consulting services in center healthy communication about relationships and sexuality, Reproductive Justice, and POC youth empowerment. Brittany and I have crossed paths in several ways: We were members of Advocates for Youth’s Young Women of Color Leadership Council (at different times) and as alumni of the Columbia University School of Social Work (also at different times, with her focusing on Social Policy Practice and me focusing on Advanced Generalist Practice and Programming). In addition to having her MSW, Brittany also has a Masters in Public Health from Columbia’s Mailman School of Public Health with a concentration in Sociomedical Sciences.

What I’ve admired about Brittany is how she combines her entrepreneurial spirit with social justice. What makes Brittany stand out as a social worker is how she uses her professional training to connect with young women of color as a businesswoman. Creating a startup is the last thing you’d associate with social work, but Brittany uses her training in design-thinking to create and facilitate workshops that impact future young women of color leaders. Brittany shows that you really can create the career you want in social work.

Follow Brittany on Facebook (The Homegirl Box and KIMBRITIVE, Instagram, and Twitter.

Chanta Blue (Montclair, NJ) is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Certified School Social Worker, and founder of Blue Counseling & Wellness Center,  , where she works alongside her sister, dietitian Chesney Blue, to empower, educate, support, guide and transform the lives individuals, couples, and families through nutrition, therapy, and coaching. Chanta received her MSW from Rutgers University and her Master’s of Education in Human Sexuality from Widener University.  Chanta and I first met at Spelman College, where we were freshman roommates, psychology majors and after school volunteers for a local Atlanta nonprofit. As a sex and relationship therapist, dating coach, and workshop presenter, Chanta empowers women to create the life and relationships they want.

What I’ve admired about Chanta is her dedication to building her expertise as a social worker. In fact, Chanta inspired me to go into social work, after spending many years focusing on pursuing a career in public health. What makes Chanta stand out as a social worker is her diligence and her ability to balance working full-time while also working for herself. In addition to running Blue Counseling & Wellness, Chanta is also a high school mental health counselor and an adjunct professor. When we think of social workers as business owners, it’s usually from the context of providing clinical therapy only, but Chanta shows that social workers are capable is creating whatever business they want. Balancing full-time employment with running a business may be challenging at times, but it’s also rewarding.

Sign up for Chanta’s mailing list, and follow her on Facebook and Instagram. 

Charlene Carruthers (Chicago, IL) is a political strategist, community leader and writer. As a Black, queer feminist community organizer and writer with over 10 years of experience in racial justice, feminist and youth leadership development movement work, Charlene is the founding national director of BYP100 (Black Youth Project 100), where she’s worked alongside young Black activists ages 18-35 to build a national base of activist member-led organization dedicated to creating justice and freedom for all Black people. Her passion for building capacity for young leadership in marginalized communities has also centered her work around immigrant rights, economic justice and national civil rights campaigns. Charlene is also a graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and has her MSW from Washington University in St. Louis. I first met Charlene around 2012 while she was campaign manager for ColorofChange.org, and we connected through attending meetings with the New York Coalition for Reproductive Justice.

What I’ve admired about Charlene is her fierce leadership, tenacious spirit, and her ability to make the impossible, possible. Not many people can say that they’ve founded and led a national grassroots organization led by young Black people. Charlene is the true definition of a community organizer and has taught me what unapologetic Black feminism looks like. Speaking of which, Charlene has written Unapologetic: A Black, Queer, Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements (Beacon Press), due out in Fall 2018. What makes Charlene stand out as a social worker is she embodies where the professional initially began (with a stronger focus on grassroots organizing, compared to the clinical reputation the profession has today), and this is something I think many social work students can aspire to.

Follow Charlene on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Joy Messinger (Illinois) an educator, writer, organizer, and consultant and identifies as a bisexual and queer Asian American cisgender femme woman of color, 1.5 generation immigrant, and adoptee. In addition to all this awesomeness, Joy serves as Program Officer for the Third Wave Fund and is an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. Guided by her commitment to social justice, health, and leadership development, Joy utilizes her skills as a facilitator, community activist and organizer, speaker and educator to build awareness of build capacity for sexuality education, youth development, Reproductive Justice, transnational adoption, and LGBTQ and Asian American community building. Joy received her MSW in Community Health and Urban Development from the UIC Jane Addams College of Social Work, her MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education from the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health, and a Graduate Certificate in Nonprofit Leadership from the UNC College of Social Work. I first met Joy when she was deputy director at the Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health (ICAH). Also, Joy and I are on the advisory committee for Social Workers for Reproductive Justice. 

What I’ve admired about Joy is her ability to introduce audiences to topics in ways that are inspiring, educational, and intentional. Joy brings a much needed voice to Reproductive Justice intersectionality with adoption justice and Asian American community building. What makes Joy stand out as a social worker is her background in mezzo social work. Micro social work is the most common social work practice, and most people understand how social workers can work at the macro level, but we mezzo social workers are in between and most often misunderstood. Through her role at the Third Wave Fund, Joy models mezzo social work by supporting the Fund’s grantmaking and fundraising programs, communications, and philanthropic advocacy. She also holds high expertise in other mezzo related work such as program planning and development, participatory evaluation and Participatory Action Research, qualitative research, and needs assessment. Regardless of where a social worker chooses to land, having these skills are not only be useful for various organizational roles, but also can be cultivated into additional income for yourself. 

Follow Joy on Instagram.

Lauren Gutierrez (Texas) is a school clinical social worker, board approved supervisor, and founder of Social Work Scrapbook, a blog about social work growth and lifestyle. I was watching YouTube videos on day and somehow came across this video of Lauren’s tips on staying safe while conducting home visits .My home visit days are long gone, but I do remember that home visits were my least favorite part of my time as a case worker. I enjoyed watching the video and decided to delve more into her videos to find out more about Lauren. Lauren created Social Work Scrapbook as a way to combat the negative stereotypes often associated with the social work profession. From what to do when a client sends you a friend request to engaging difficult clients in therapy, Lauren has created a variety of videos for social work students and seasoned professionals. In additional to having a popular YouTube channel, Lauren has created the Social Work Scrapbook Community as an additional way for social workers to connect. As a native Texan, Lauren received her MSW from the University of Texas Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work.

What I’ve admired about Lauren is her ability to connect social workers with each other and provide informative and concise information in a digestible format. YouTube channels and social media in general for social workers weren’t as popular when I was on my MSW program as they are now, and I admire Lauren’s ability to be consistent with teaching as well as learning. What makes Lauren stand out as a social worker is that she is a great example of how clinical social workers can build their professional brand via social media. Social workers in general aren’t taught how to market ourselves, but I believe with time, we’ll see more social workers creating blogs, podcast, YouTube channels, and more. Though Social Work Scrapbook, Lauren shows the importance of connection as well as showing off your expertise.

Follow Lauren on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Youtube.

Poonam Dreyfus-Pai (Oakland, CA) is a South Asian researcher, advocate, full-spectrum doula, and Deputy Director at All-Options where she leads her staff in designing and evaluating programs related to providing unconditional, judgment-free support for clients’ and callers’ reproductive decisions. I first became aware of Poonam when she was a volunteer doula for The Doula Project in New York City, but it isn’t until several years later that I met Poonam in the Bay Area while she was a program designer and coach at CoreAlign. We connected first as Reproductive Justice activists, then as social workers interested in the design-thinking process and how it can be applied to both social work and program evaluation work. Poonam also received her Master of Social Welfare in maternal and child health and her Master of Public Health from the University of California at Berkeley.

What I’ve admired about Poonam is how she connects research and direct services to inform the development, implementation, and evaluation of reproductive health programs. Plus, she one of the few social workers I know that will happily talk about both abortion stigma and program evaluation in the same sentence. What makes Poonam stand out is her curiosity and dedication to guiding All-Options in being intentional about it collective impact of its programming, such as Talkline, Faith Aloud and the All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center. Poonam’s ability to have her work in program evaluation and research be informed by her dedication to the reproductive movement shows social workers the importance of working in one’s passion.

Sign up to email updates from All Options.

Reia Chapman (Charlotte, NC) is a licensed psychotherapist and Director of Clinical Services for the Center of Family & Maternal Wellness, where she provides individual, couples, and family counseling for those experiencing mental health conditions  including post- or peri-partum depression, anxiety, inattention/lack of focus, PTSD, grief and loss, and substance use. As a social worker, activist, organizer, Reia works across the intersections of the Reproductive movement and Racial and Social Justice, paving the way for powerful organizing happening in the southern region of the United States. I first met Reia when she was the southern organizer for SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective and we’ve connected throughout the years due to our love for Reproductive Justice and social work. Reia received her Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and her MSW from Savannah State University. Reia is also an advisory committee member of Social Workers for Reproductive Justice.

What I’ve admired about Reia is her ability to use her privilege identities to work at the intersections of social work and social justice work, as evident in her coined phrase “Social work IS social justice work.” Opening up her own practice is a testament to Reia’s keen insight into the importance of addressing the mental health of one’s organizational staff and how it impacts how the engage with their community. What makes Reia stand out as a social worker is how she encourages clinical social workers to take up space in organizing settings. As social workers, we are advocates and activists first and foremost, and we may be called at any time to advocate or our clients (from individuals to communities) regardless of what level of social work we work in.

Follow Reia on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.