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NYU Washington, DC and the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP) will co-host a social work day forum featuring Dr. Sean Joe, Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis and Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, Dr. Waldo E. Johnson, Jr. Associate Professor at the School of Social Service Administration and a Faculty Affiliate with the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago, Dr. Bobby Austin, President of the Neighborhood Associates Corporation, Shawn Dove, Chief Executive Officer at the Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA), Adrian V. Burnim, Supervisory Social Worker for the District of Columbia Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services, and Dr. Charles E. Lewis, Jr., Founder and Director of CRISP.
While making progress in some areas, African American males have historically lagged behind other groups in the United States in critical areas of employment, education, health and economic outcomes. Columbia University Professor Ronald V. Mincy documented the plight of African American males in his 2006 edited book, Black Males Left Behind published by the Urban Institute Press. Several public and private initiatives have been launched to close the gaps most notably efforts by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Campaign for Black Male Achievement that began in 2008, and My Brother’s Keeper launched in 2014 by President Barack Obama to expand opportunities for young men and boys of color. Social workers across the country have been engaged in research and practice to find answers that would inform programs and policies to address the needs of young black males. This forum brings together leaders in the field who are nationally known for their work to improve black male achievement.
Please note that this program may be filmed and/or photographed.
Dr. Bobby Austin
Adrian Burnim
Shawn Dove
Dr. Sean Joe
Dr. Waldo E. Johnson
Dr. Charles E. Lewis, Jr,
Dr. Bobby Austin, President, Neighborhood Associates Corporation
Dr. Bobby Austin is President of the Neighborhood Associates Corporation and a leader in the field of black male achievement. As a program officer for the Kellogg Foundation, he was the first to fund major philanthropic initiatives for African American boys and men during the 1990s. He has an extensive record of public service in education and government, including chairing the planning committee for Chicago Congressman Danny Davis’s
2003 State of the African American Male Initiative. He is the former Executive Director of the National Task Force on African American Men and Boys which produced the groundbreaking report, Repairing the Breach: Key Ways to Support Family Life, Reclaim Our Streets and Rebuild Civil Society in America's Communities.
Adrian V. Burnim, Supervisory Social Worker, District of Columbia Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services
Adrian V. Burnim is a Supervisory Social Worker for the District of Columbia Department of Youth Rehabilitation Services who works with adjudicated youth and their families to develop plans of service to help youth successfully reintegrate into society. A graduate of the University of Virginia where he received his B. A. in sociology and Howard University School of Social Work where he received his M.S.W. degree and was the 1998-89 William and Camille Cosby Fellow, Adrian has devoted his life to improving the lives of African American youth. He founded and remains the Executive Director of the Beat the Streets Youth Outreach Foundation through which he utilizes Hip-Hop culture and sports to develop programs and engage urban youth in positive youth development activities.
Shawn Dove, Chief Executive Officer, Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA)
Shawn Dove is the Chief Executive Officer the Campaign for Black Male Achievement (CBMA), a national membership organization improving the life outcomes for Black men and boys. Under Dove’s leadership, CBMA has leveraged more than $212 million in national and local funds for Black Male Achievement, and has grown to include nearly 6,000 individual and 3,000 organizational members across the U.S. Since 2008, Dove’s stellar leadership has propelled CBMA from being an initiative of the Open Society Foundations (OSF) into an independent entity that has established an emerging field of Black Male Achievement. Among Dove’s key accomplishments are helping seed the launch of President Obama’s My Brother’s Keeper Initiative; brokering a partnership between OSF, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the City of New York to launch the Young Men’s Initiative; and serving as a lead organizer of the Executives’ Alliance to Expand Opportunities for Boys & Young Men of Color.
Dr. Sean Joe, Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development at the Brown School of Social Work, Associate Dean for Faculty and Research, Washington University in St. Louis
Dr. Sean Joe is a nationally recognized scholar for his research on suicidal behavior among black Americans with a specific focus on effective practice with black boys and young men. He is the Benjamin E. Youngdahl Professor of Social Development at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis where he is the Associate Dean for Faculty and Research. Working within the school’s Center for Social Development, Dr. Joe has launched the Race and Opportunity Lab. Its leading community science project is HomeGrown STL, a multi-systemic placed-based capacity building intervention to enhance the lives of black males ages 12-29 years in the St. Louis region.
Dr. Waldo E. Johnson, Jr. Associate Professor at the School of Social Service Administration and a Faculty Affiliate with the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture, University of Chicago
Dr. Waldo E. Johnson, Jr. is an Associate Professor at the School of Social Service Administration and a Faculty Affiliate with the Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture at the University of Chicago. He is the principal investigator for the Chicago Parenting Initiative Evaluation Study, a multi-year evaluation of the impact of male enhancement services on young fathers’ physical and psychological wellbeing as well as numerous other research projects and professional panels including the Ford Foundation Scholars Network on Masculinity and the Wellbeing of African American Males. His edited book, Social Work with African American Males: Health, Mental Health and Social Policy (Oxford University Press, 2010) was featured at symposium at the Center for American Progress titled, “Everybody Isn’t Obama: Black Men and Social Policy.”
Dr. Charles E. Lewis, Jr., Founder and Director of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP)
Dr. Charles E. Lewis, Jr. is the Founder and Director of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP), a nonprofit organization that works to engage social workers with the U.S. Congress. He is an adjunct professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and lecturer at Columbia University School of Social Work. He a member of the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work Leadership Board. Dr. Lewis was Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director for former Congressman Ed Towns and a member of the faculty of Howard University School of Social Work. He earned his MSW degree in clinical counseling from Clark Atlanta University and PhD in policy, planning and policy analysis from Columbia University.
