Leadership
Grand Challenges Network Leadership
Grand Challenges Executive Board
Carrie Pettus, PhD (Chair, Executive Board)
President/CEO
Wellbeing & Equity Innovations
carrie@wellbeingandequity.org
Elizabeth Gillette, MSW (Executive Board)
Executive Director
Grand Challenges for Social Work
Director@Grandchallengesforsocialwork.org
Quincy B., DSW (Executive Board)
President & Owner
Erase the Divide LLC
Founder & Director
Erase the Redline Inc
quincyb@erasetheredline.org
Schnavia Hatcher, PhD (Executive Board)
Dean and Professor
University of Alabama, School of Social Work
schnavia.hatcher@ua.edu
Benjamin Henwood, PhD, MSW, MA (Executive Board)
Albert G. and Frances Lomas Feldman Professor of Social Policy and Health & Director, Center for Homelessness, Housing and Health Equity Research
University of Southern California, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
bhenwood@usc.edu
Sean Joe, PhD (Executive Board)
Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development
President of Society of Social Work Research
Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis
sjoe@wustl.edu
Judy Postmus (Executive Board)
Dean & Professor
University of Maryland Baltimore, School of Social Work
dean@ssw.umaryland.edu
Nancy Smyth, MSW, PhD (Executive Board)
Professor and Dean Emeritus
University at Buffalo, School of Social Work
njsmyth@buffalo.edu
Grand Challenges Leadership Advisory Council
Richard Barth, PhD, MSW (Past Chair)
Professor and Dean Emeritus
University of Maryland School of Social Work
rbarth@ssw.umaryland.edu
Julie Cederbaum, PhD, MSW, MPH
Associate Professor
Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California
jcederba@usc.edu
Mimi Chapman, PhD
Frank J. Daniels Chair and Professor
Associate Dean for Doctoral Education
President, Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education in Social Work (GADE)
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Social Work
mimi@email.unc.edu
Jandel Crutchfield, PhD, MSW
Associate Professor
The University of Texas at Arlington, School of Social Work
jandel.crutchfield@uta.edu
Ramona Denby-Brinson
Dean
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work
jandel.crutchfield@uta.edu
William Elliott III, PhD, MSW
Full Professor University of Michigan School of Social Work
University of Michigan, School of Social Work
willelli@umich.edu
Anthony Estreet, PhD, MBA, LCSW-C
Chief Executive Officer
National Association of Social Workers
naswceo@socialworkers.org
Catherine Gayle, PhD
Department Chair of Social Work, Associate Professor
Savannah State University
gaylec@savannahstate.edu
Krystal Hays, PhD
DSW Program Director, Associate Professor
California Baptist University
khays@calbaptist.edu
Charles Lewis, PhD
President
Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy
celewisjr@crispinc.org
Michael Lindsey, PhD
Dean and Paulette Goddard Professor of Social Work
President; American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare
New York University Silver School of Social Work
silver.dean@nyu.edu
Ron Manderscheid, PhD
Adjunct Professor
Former President/CEO of NACBHDD and NARMH Johns Hopkins University
rmanderscheid@nacbhd.org
Laura Nissen, PhD, MSW
Professor and Dean Emeritus
Portland State University School of Social Work
nissen@pdx.edu
Audrey Shillington, MPE, MSW, PhD
Dean
College of Health and Human Services, San José State University
Audrey.Shillington@sjsu.edu
Renee Smith-Maddox
Teaching Professor
University of Southern California – Suzanne Dworak Peck School of Social Work
smiithmad@usc.edu
Marvin Southard, LCSW, DSW
Past Director & DSW Chair
LA County Department of Mental Health & University of Southern California, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work
casasouthard@aol.com
Desmond Upton Patton, PhD, MSW
Brian and Randi Schwartz University Professor, PIK University Professor,
Chief Strategy Officer, SAFELab Director
University of Pennsylvania, School of Social Policy & Practice
dupatton@upenn.edu
Halaevalu Vakalahi PhD, MSW, MEd
President and Chief Executive Officer
Council on Social Work Education
hvakalahi@cswe.org
Lynn Videka, PhD
Carol T. Mowbray Collegiate Professor of Social Work and Dean Emeritus
University of Michigan, School of Social Work
lvideka@umich.edu
Dexter R. Voisin, PhD, MSW, LCSW
Dean
Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University.
dexter.voisin@case.edu
Amy Ward, DSW, LCSW
Therapist, Assistant Professor and Program Director of Social Work
East Central University
Amyawar@ecok.edu
Tiffany Washington
Associate Professor of Health Social Work
University of Tennessee, College of Social Work
twashi29@utk.edu
Alison Wetmur, DSW, LCSW
Lisa Zerden, PhD
Deputy Director for the UNC Behavioral Health Workforce Research Center & Associate Professor
UNC at Chapel Hill, School of Social Work
lzerden@email.unc.edu
Past Members
Sarah Butts, MSW, FNAP
VP of Government Relations
Service Coordination, Inc.
Melissa Begg, ScD
Dean and Professor
Columbia University, School of Social Work
Melissa Haley, MSW
Past National President
National Association of Black Social Workers
Darla Coffey, PhD
Past President and CEO
Council on Social Work Education (CSWE)
King Davis, PhD
Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy
University of Texas at Austin, Steve Hicks School of Social Work
Diana M. DiNitto, PhD
Cullen Trust Centennial Professor in Alcohol Studies and Education and Distinguished Teaching Professor
University of Texas at Austin, Steve Hicks School of Social Work
Marilyn Flynn, PhD
Past Dean, University of Southern California
College of Social Work
Rowena Fong, EdD
Ruby Lee Piester Centennial Professor in Services to Children and Families
University of Texas at Austin, Steve Hicks School of Social Work
Sarah Gehlert, PhD
Past President, AASWSW
Dean, University of Southern California
College of Social Work
J. David Hawkins, PhD
Social Work Endowed Professor in Prevention
University of Washington Social Development Research Group
James Lubben, DSW
Professor Emeritus
Boston College, School of Social Work
Trina R. Shanks, PhD
Director, School of Social Work Community Engagement,
Harold R. Johnson Collegiate Professor of Social Work
Faculty Associate, Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research
University of Michigan, School of Social Work
Robert Sheehan, MSW, MBA
Chief Executive Officer
Community Mental Health Association of Michigan
Michael Sherraden, PhD (Ex-Officio Executive Committee Member)
George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor
Washington University in St. Louis, Brown School
Edwina Uehara, PhD (Chair Emeritus)
Professor and Ballmer Endowed Dean in Social Work
University of Washington, School of Social Work
Karina Walters, PhD
Professor, Katherine Hall Chambers Scholar Co-director, IWRI
University of Washington, School of Social Work
Patricia White, MSW
Executive Director, Fund for Social Policy Education and Practice
Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College
Luis H. Zayas, PhD
Dean and Robert Lee Sutherland Chair in Mental Health and Social Policy
University of Texas at Austin, Steve Hicks School of Social Work
