PSU History
I have been teaching for PSU since 2010 in the Child, Youth, and Family Studies program.
Experience
I hold a bachelor's and master's degree in social work and have been working in the area of social work for 26 years; both domestically and internationally. Domestically, I have worked with homeless adults assisting in an employment and work readiness program, with chronically mentally ill adults assisting them to live semi-independently, in the area of child welfare helping to implement a parent mentoring program and drug court program, and in public health providing counseling for low-income pregnant women and helping to implement a grassroots community development project to decrease chronic disease.
I have spent almost 15 years working internationally. I completed my field placement in Jamaica as an undergraduate student, was a US Peace Corps Volunteer in Malawi, S. Africa and Ghana, W. Africa focusing on disease prevention and working in child welfare in London, England. I have spent the last 9 years in Ghana coordinating a program for students to complete their social work field practicum in various organizations. I have supervised 80 students from 17 universities. I began teaching at the university level in 2009. I currently teach on-line social work classes through Portland State University, University of Alabama, University of Nevada at Reno, and University of Arizona Global Campus.
In 2006, my husband and I began a non-profit organization to provide higher educational opportunities to individuals in Ghana through scholarships. We began offering various two-year business degree programs in 2014 and started our first degree program in January 2021. Our goal is to provide a quality and critically-thinking based education promoting ethical leadership to Ghanaians who wouldn't otherwise be able to access higher education.
Academic/Research Interests
I am interested in how international experiences and internationalization shape and benefit social work students and their work within the US. I am also interested in the effectiveness or ineffectiveness of Western-based mental health and substance abuse interventions utilized in Ghana while taking into account the vast cultural differences.
Personal Interests
My personal interests include jogging, reading, writing, and contemplating the intricacies of culture while navigating daily life in Ghana!