September 26 and 27, 2019

University of Connecticut’s Tanya Rhodes-Smith, Director of the Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work, trained over 50 #UTCSW students, alumni, and faculty to re-examine their attitudes toward politics, their role in empowering their clients and communities to be politically active, and make a personal commitment to integrate political action into their practice. She stressed that social workers should engage their clients and communities to vote by integrating nonpartisan voter engagement into social service delivery and organizational culture.

The experience included opportunities to learn from panels of legislators, political social workers, and allies who embody social work values in elected office in Tennessee. A special focus of the discussion was the way being a woman of color in the current political climate impacts campaigning and serving in office. #UTCSW Professor Carmen Reese Foster, one of the founders of the Coalition of Black Social Workers, hosted a discussion with Nashville Juvenile Court Judge Sheila Calloway who shared her experiences as the first black female judge of the juvenile court system in Tennessee.

This two-day training took place on September 26 and 27 at the Nashville Campus and was made possible by the generous funding of Susan Cooper and her Social Justice Innovation Initiative II Grant: Challenging Sexism. Kate M. Chaffin, Associate Professor and Online MSSW Program Director, Julie Franks, lecturer in the Online MSSW Program and recent DSW graduate, and Kim Crane Mallory, Assistant Director of Field Education, organized the 2-day Campaign School training. Dr. Stacia West will serve as a research consultant on the grant.