University of Michigan School of Social Work

Assistant Professor Ashley Cureton has been appointed as a member of the Council on Social Work Education’s (CSWE) Council on Global Social Issues (CGSI). This role will provide Cureton with the opportunity to shape the future of social work education and is given in recognition of her expertise, dedication, and significant contributions to the field of social work.

Lecturer Erin Martinez-Gillard recently shared that her students in the SW617 Death, Loss and Grief course requested to end the class with a funeral in keeping with the theme of the content. Together, they created a shared celebration that honored the process and allowed them to grieve the end of the course — truly, an experiential process.

Clinical Assistant Professor Ayesha Ghazi Edwin took students from her SW305 and SW640 classes to Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Capitol Day in Lansing earlier this month.

“It was meaningful to have social work students join me — especially because many of them will work alongside marginalized communities — so they could hear directly from AANHPI community members about issues impacting their lives and other immigrant communities, and learn how elected officials and advocates are responding,” said Ghazi Edwin, who chairs the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission.

The students met State Senator Stephanie Chang, MSW ’14, and Representative Carrie Rhengians, MSW ’11, among others.

Professor William Elliott III spoke with the New York Times about a new proposal that would greatly increase the funds New York City kindergartners receive through NYC Kids Rise, a college savings program. The proposal would provide a one-time contribution of $1,000-$3,000; currently, the program funds each account with $100. Elliott is a leading researcher on college savings accounts and their ability to transform not just college funding, but also expectations and attitudes around savings and wealth.

“There’s going to be more and more need for us to think about how do we redistribute wealth to maintain the meritocracy that we aspire to achieve,” he said. “It’s going to require programs like this that don’t just think about income as a way out of solving poverty but think about wealth as an important part of shaping kids’ futures.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/01/nyregion/nyc-college-savings-account-children.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share.

N.Y.C. Children May Get Up to $3,000 From City for College Accounts The city’s current savings plan starts with $100. A City Council proposal would make the initial contributions among the highest anywhere.

Professor Rogério Pinto’s new book, “Freire and Drama: 'Marília', a Play — Anti-Oppression and Healing in the Arts,” has been published by Bloomsbury. The book introduces Paulo Freire's theoretical concepts as they relate to playwriting and theatre, and shows how anyone interested in social justice and self-healing can use performance as an accessible vehicle for exploring the root causes and effects of oppression. The text centers on Pinto’s award-winning one-person play, “Marília.”

Freire and Drama This book introduces Freire's theoretical concepts as they relate to playwriting and theatre. User-friendly and concise, the book shows how anyone interested in…

Professor Lisa Wexler and Research Investigator Elizabeth Evans are featured in the latest Michigan Research newsletter for the expansion of PC CARES. The article details how the program uses community-led learning circles to share research findings, allowing each community to discuss and develop solutions that will fit their needs. Originally designed by Wexler to address su***de prevention, this highly adaptable method is now being used to address substance use. "The opposite of addiction is connection. It’s that simple,” said Wexler.

Evans is spearheading the expansion of this program to new communities, including some in Michigan.

https://research.umich.edu/research-stories/translating-research-into-practical-community-tools/

Clinical Assistant Professor Ayesha Ghazi Edwin gave the keynote speech at last month’s 2026 Asian American graduation celebration. “We reflected on the power of our stories, the ways our journeys are interwoven, and why intergroup solidarity is so important — especially in this moment,” said Ghazi Edwin.

Associate Professor Shanna Kattari gave the keynote speaker at Global Accessibility Awareness Day 2026, a virtual accessibility event that supports conversation, thinking, and learning about access and inclusion. This year’s conference theme, “Design, Develop, Deliver”, focused on refining digital accessibility skills and making accessibility an integral part of everything we do — from the way we communicate, design and innovate, to how we create a more equitable future for everyone.

This year’s event was sponsored by U-M, the University of Minnesota and the University of Illinois system, and organized by a volunteer group of dedicated employees from the sponsoring universities.

To learn more about the event: https://gaad.umn.edu/

Ever wish you had hard data on social work salaries when negotiating pay? We're building that dataset right now. Take our 10-min anonymous survey and help create the public compensation data Michigan social workers can actually use for advocacy and career decisions.

https://ferris.questionpro.com/humanservicesstudy

This research is a partnership between Ferris State University and NASW-Michigan and has been reviewed and approved through the IRB Accepted Protocol -FY24-25-121 to protect your privacy and ensure ethical research practices.

Laurel Hammis, MSW ’23, received the Emerging Social Work Leader Award and MSW student Angela Chin was honored as the U-M MSW Student of the Year at the National Association of Social Work-Michigan award ceremony last month.

https://bit.ly/4v6z1oB

NASW-Michigan Announces 2026 Emerging Social Work Leader Award Recipient: Laurel Hammis, LLMSW - National Association of Social Workers - Michigan Chapter LANSING, MI — The National Association of Social Workers – Michigan Chapter (NASW-Michigan) is proud to announce Laurel Hammis, LLMSW, as the recipient of the 2026 Emerging Social Work Leader Award.