2024 Black Social Worker Spotlight 

Diane R. Griggs, LCSW

Diane R. Griggs was born and raised in Los Angeles and received her MSW from the University of Maryland at Baltimore School of Social Work and Community Planning.  

With extensive experience servicing vulnerable and system impacted populations, her passion is integrating holistic, culturally congruent, healing centered and social justice perspectives. As a longstanding member of the Association of Black Social Workers – Greater Los Angeles Chapter, Diane has served as the Vice-President for the last eight years. Recently, she was elected Historian.   

Griggs served as an Executive Producer and Interviewer for “Treasured Voices Speak: The Founding of the National Association of Black Social Workers.” This project chronicles the historical significance of the National Association of Black Social Workers and its contributions to shaping Black life.  

 
Source: https://abswgla.org/board
Photo Source: Association of Black Social Workers 

Barbara Lee, MSW 

Congresswoman Barbara Lee was born in segregated El Paso, TX and attended St. Joseph’s Catholic School. During her graduate work at UC Berkeley, Lee founded the Community Health Alliance for Neighborhood Growth and Education, which provided mental health services to many of the East Bay’s most vulnerable individuals. 

In 1996, Congresswoman Lee was elected to the State Senate. As the first Black woman elected to the State Senate from Northern California, she created and presided over the California Commission on the Status of African American Males and the California Legislative Black Caucus. Congresswoman Lee was an early champion of LGBTAQ+ rights and served as a strong advocate for women in the legislature. 

Since 1998, Congresswoman Barbara Lee has been representing California’s 12th District. She is the highest ranking African American woman appointed to Democratic Leadership, serving as Co-Chair of the Policy and Steering Committee. She also serves on the Budget Committee and the Appropriations Committee. 

Source: https://lee.house.gov/
Photo Source: UC Berkeley, School of Social Welfare 

Terrence J. Roberts, MSW

A civil rights activist committed to fighting discrimination, Terrence J. Roberts helped break down racial barriers during the reintegration of public schools in the South and has continued to promote ideals of social justice throughout his career. 

As one of the “Little Rock Nine,” the first Black students who were enrolled that year and arrived to attend the first day of school, Roberts faced an onslaught of hateful jeers, taunts, and even rocks, one of which he keeps as a reminder. Despite the angry crowds, Roberts and his fellow students refused to back down, paving the way for integration in other schools.  

Throughout his career, Roberts has continued to advise organizations on issues of social justice and civil rights through his firm, Terrence J. Roberts Consulting, including serving as the official desegregation consultant for Little Rock School District in the late 1990s. Roberts serves on several boards, including Western Justice Center Foundation, Economic Resources Corporation, Little Rock Nine Foundation, and Facing History and Ourselves.  

 
Source: https://www.swarchive.org/terrence-roberts 
Photo Source: California Social Welfare Archives 

Karen Bass, MSW 

Karen Bass is the 43rd Mayor of Los Angeles and the first woman and second African American to be elected as the city’s chief executive. With an agenda focused on bringing urgency, accountability, she has focused on housing people immediately and increasing safety and opportunity in every part of Los Angeles. 

After serving as a front-line healthcare provider as a nurse and as a Physician Assistant, Mayor Bass founded the Community Coalition to organize the predominantly Black and Latino residents of South L.A. against substance abuse, poverty and crime, and to pioneer strategies to address the root causes behind the challenges faced by underserved neighborhoods. She then went on to represent Los Angeles in the State Assembly and was elected by her peers to serve as Speaker, making her the first Black woman to ever lead a state legislative body in the history of the United States.  

 
Source: https://mayor.lacity.gov/about-mayor-karen-bass
Photo Source: City of Los Angeles 

Terry Jones, PhD, MSW 

As a founding member and professor emeritus of the Social Work Department at California State University, East Bay, Terry Jones dedicated his career to advocating for social justice and championing the causes of underserved and diverse populations.  

Jones focused his research efforts on the intersection of social policy, affirmative action, racism, child welfare, and multiculturalism in higher education. In recognition of his tireless support of social justice, Jones was named Social Worker of the Year in 2005 by the California chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and received the Human and Civil Rights Award from the California Faculty Association. His four decades of efforts toward social justice and improving the profession’s ability to serve its clients by developing a diverse, skilled workforce have changed countless lives in California. 

Source: https://www.swarchive.org/terry-jones 
Photo Source: CSU East Bay 

Ivor J. Echols, DSW 

Ivor J. Echols, DSW, made pioneering contributions as an educator, an activist for civil rights and social justice, and as a spokesperson for the social work profession. She inspired hundreds of students and as a leader, strengthened numerous community and national organizations, including NASW and the National Association of Black Social Workers. Throughout her professional and personal life, she worked tirelessly to combat racism and injustice, especially toward the African American community and those living in poverty. She was a leader in national, state, and local organizations. 

Echols believed in her role in strengthening the profession. She was an active member of the Connecticut Chapter of NASW and was the chairperson of the National Committee on Minority Affairs (NCOMA) from 1978-1980. She also served as a delegate to the NASW Delegate Assembly in 1981. 

Echols was recognized by numerous organizations for her contributions. She received the National Sojourner Truth Meritorious Service Aware from the National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women, and a special citation from the Michigan House of Representatives for community service. A scholarship in her name was established upon her death in 2000. The Dr. Ivor J. Echols Memorial Scholarship is given to University of Connecticut social work students of color to provide financial assistance toward their education. 

Source: https://naswfoundation.org/Our-Work/NASW-Social-Work-Pioneers/NASW-Social-Workers-Pioneers-Bio-Index/id/940  
Photo Source: NASW Foundation 

Ronald V. Dellums, MSW 

Ronald Dellums was a social worker, politician, civil rights activist, community organizer and reformer. He dedicated his life to public service, most notably as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served for 28 years.  

In 1970, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, where for nearly three decades he represented Berkeley, Oakland, and the surrounding areas. He was known for his expertise on military policy and became Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; his early opposition to the Vietnam War and apartheid in South Africa; and for his strong stance on environmental, civil rights, labor, and consumer issues. 

When asked how his education and experience as a social worker informed his career as a politician, Dellums noted, “I have learned how to be a better member of the human family, period. As a black man, I understood fully that many of the obstacles that individuals face during their lives are social and structural – some especially arduous, such as racism – rather than personal. But I believe the combination of my upbringing and my education has allowed me to not get caught up in the cynicism of the moment. I learned that active involvement with other human beings can change the course of events.” 

Source: https://www.swarchive.org/ronald-dellums 
Photo Source: California Social Welfare Archives 

Dr. Brenda Ingram, Ed.D., LCSW 

Dr. Brenda Ingram is a licensed clinical social worker and an educator who has over 25 years working in the mental health and education fields. Her dissertation focused on the impact of community violence on the academic careers of African American elementary school students. She was the former Director of Clinical Services for Peace Over Violence. She currently is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at USC Keck School of Medicine.  

Dr. Ingram is a member of the National Association Social Work and Association of Black Social Workers, and the former co-chair of the Trauma Informed Los Angeles Steering Committee. She provides consultations, program development, workshops and training on sexual and domestic violence, trauma and trauma-informed care, cultural competence, to various human service agencies, schools, and mental health professionals.  

Source: https://www.vmlawcorp.com/brenda-ingram
Photo Source: Trauma Informed LA 

Tony Thurmond, MSW 

Superintendent Thurmond is an educator, social worker, and public school parent who has served Californians for more than 15 years in elected office. Previously, he served on the Richmond City Council, the West Contra Costa Unified School Board, and in the California State Assembly representing District 15. Tony Thurmond was sworn in as the twenty-eighth California State Superintendent of Public Instruction on January 7, 2019. 

Much of Superintendent Thurmond’s social service work has focused on improving the services provided to foster youth and directing programs that provide job training to at-risk youth. He also led programs that provide help for individuals with developmental disabilities. He has 12 years of direct experience in education, teaching life skills classes, after school programs, and career training.  

In recognition of his social service leadership, Superintendent Thurmond has been a Fellow in the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Children and Family Fellowship program. 

Source: https://www.cde.ca.gov/eo/bo/tt/
Photo Source: California Department of Education 

Dr. Bernice Catherine Harper, MSW 

Dr. Bernice Catherine Harper has spent her life focusing on health care and health care policy formulation. Throughout her career, Harper has practiced in varied settings and personified the values and ethical standards of the social work profession even in the most difficult and highly charged political environments. 

She was instrumental in developing long-term program policies, which highlight continuity-of-care, including community, and institutional care, and stresses the importance of psychosocial components. Her commitment to the long-term care of those in need has served to demonstrate the best of the best for the profession and for those in need. 

Dr. Harper was the first Black out-of-state social work student to obtain her MSW at the University of Southern California in 1948 and among the first Black woman to earn a Master of Science in Public Health from Harvard University in 1959. Harper serves on the Board of Directors for the NASW Foundation and has been active and held leadership positions at NASW and the International Conference on Social Welfare. She was the first recipient of the NASW Foundation’s Knee/Wittman Outstanding Achievement in Health/Mental Health Policy Award. In 2017, Harper was inducted into the California Social Work Hall of Distinction. 

Source: https://www.naswfoundation.org/Our-Work/NASW-Social-Work-Pioneers/NASW-Social-Workers-Pioneers-Bio-Index/id/636
Photo Source: NASW Foundation 

W. E. B. Du Bois, Ph.D 

In a career that spanned 75 years, Du Bois made a name for himself as a prolific author, poet, journalist, sociologist, historian, novelist, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. 

Du Bois identified structural racism and discrimination in the primary domains of their live – health, occupation, employment, education, housing, the environment, voting, and institutional life. He was the first to systematically study the Black community by collecting data using surveys, interviews, and observations along with archival sources, census data, local government reports, and newspapers. He made the argument that anti-Black racism, not Black pathology or Black inferiority, explained poverty and the crime experienced by Black people.  

Du Bois drew attention to racial disparities in outcomes such as health and criminal justice. Ultimately, his research and writings lifted the veil of racism and provided a voice for those living on the margins. W. E. B. Du Bois received the NAACP Spingarn Medal in 1920 and a Fisk University honorary degree and induction into the Phi Beta Kappa chapter in 1958. In 1969, the W.E. B. Du Bois Institute for African American and African American Research was established at Harvard University.   

Source: https://www.naswfoundation.org/Our-Work/NASW-Social-Work-Pioneers/NASW-Social-Workers-Pioneers-Bio-Index/id/935
Photo Source: NASW Foundation 

Opal Lee 

Known as the grandmother of Juneteenth, Opal Lee is a retired teacher, counselor, and activist.  

After a career as an educator and home school counselor, Lee retired in 1976 and became active in community causes in the Fort Worth area, organizing the city’s annual Juneteenth celebration and co-founding the Tarrant County Black Historical and Genealogical Society.  

Making Juneteenth a national holiday was never far from Lee’s mind, and she started an annual tradition of walking 2.5 miles, representing the two-and-a-half years it took for the Emancipation Proclamation to reach the state of Texas. From September 2016 to January 2017, Lee traveled the country from Fort Worth to Washington, stopping in dozens of cities along the way for symbolic 2.5 mile walks to draw attention to her cause. 

On June 17, 2021, President Biden signed the bill into law that made Juneteenth a national holiday. Lee was invited to the White House signing ceremony, where she received a standing ovation. 

Source: https://www.biography.com/activists/a44213763/opal-lee-juneteenth-activist 
Photo Source: OpalsWalk2DC 

Biddy Mason 

Born into slavery in Georgia, Biddy Mason, at age 18, was a wedding gift to Robert Marion Smith and his bride. With her three young children, the youngest on her back, she walked behind her master’s wagon train for seven months as they moved to Salt Lake City. En-route she herded cattle, cared for the Smith children, and served as midwife to women and livestock. Three years later, they trekked through mountains and deserts to San Bernardino, then to Los Angeles, arriving in 1855. 

There would not be a social agency in Los Angeles until later that year, and the Owens family took in the Masons. One of the city’s four physicians offered Mason work as a midwife and nurse. By 1866 she had delivered hundreds of babies and nursed many people through a smallpox epidemic. She had saved all her earnings, invested in property, and became wealthy. The house she built for herself became a haven for homeless people and others who needed help, as well as the locus for the First African American Methodist Episcopal Church, the city’s first black congregation.  

In a time that did not yet know the terms “social work” or “social welfare” and when Los Angeles had only a handful of black residents, Biddy Mason carried out many charitable works and was a generous volunteer without regard to the ethnicity of the needy person. Her legacy of generosity-in the form of gifts of time and money-lives on in the spirit of volunteering and philanthropy. 

Source: https://www.swarchive.org/biddy-mason
Photo Source: California Social Welfare Archives  

E. Jane Middleton, MSW, BSW, DSW 

E. Jane Middleton worked in several hospitals and health care settings, establishing a keen reputation as an effective advocate for institutionalized patients and their families. In Pennsylvania, she joined the State Office of the Special Master for Pennhurst (the state’s institution for ‘the feeble-minded and epileptic’). Middleton was instrumental in bringing that advocacy case before the U.S. Supreme Court, which influenced their 1984 decision to de-institutionalize services for people with disabilities and guarantee their right to be integrated into their communities. Middleton’s life has impressed many as an embodiment of the core values of social work. 

Serving on several county boards in the areas of mental health, child welfare, and domestic violence, Middleton identified system strengths and needs and was never shy about calling for system change that put those with service needs first. Instrumental in restructuring the Fresno County child welfare system, Middleton brought needed attention and resources to the grossly underserved and ignored African American neighborhoods of metro-Fresno. 

Source: https://www.swarchive.org/e-jane-middleton  
Photo Source: California Social Welfare Archives 

Elizabeth Robinson 

Elizabeth Robinson was a pioneer African American social worker. Her career spanned 35 years, and in the context of her times was the first of her race in many of her social work positions. 

Beginning her career during the Great Depression in 1934, Robinson worked with Los Angeles County as a social worker with the Bureau of Indigent Welfare, the predecessor of the Bureau of Public Assistance and the Department of Social Services. Following several years as a front-line social worker visiting families, she became supervisor of a combined unit of Old Age Security, Aid to Dependent Children and General Relief. 

After serving for the Women’s Army Corp, Robinson resumed her social work career as a supervisor in Child Welfare Services and was later promoted to Director of Day Care, Licensing and State Pre-School. 

Source: https://www.swarchive.org/elizabeth-robinson  
Photo Source: California Social Welfare Archives 

Effie Robinson, MSW 

Effie Robinson was the first African American to receive a social welfare degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1943. A woman known for her intellect, street smarts and for being an exceptional supervisor, she was one of the first African American social workers in San Francisco. In 1945 she joined the Family Services Agency of San Francisco as a casework supervisor and was appointed the organization’s Executive Director in 1956. In 1961, the San Francisco Examiner listed her as one of ten most distinguished women in San Francisco. 

Robinson was levelheaded, psychoanalytic oriented and related very well to her colleagues. She helped people of all ages and backgrounds to achieve a better quality of life. Even after her retirement, she was involved with the annual Martin Luther King essay contest for youth in San Francisco. Her ongoing project was with Lowell High School students, encouraging their involvement with international affairs, the people of the world and the United Nations Association. To this day her initiatives continue to help low-income families, school children and seniors. 

Source: https://www.swarchive.org/effie-robinson  
Photo Source: California Social Welfare Archives 

Ann Shaw, MSW 

For nearly 50 years, Ann Shaw confronted discrimination, breaking barriers for women, particularly African American women. She applied her strength of purpose and people skills to integrating major organizational boards by serving as their first woman and first African American member. 

Shaw became a part of California history in 1975 when she was appointed by Governor Jerry Brown as the first woman and first African American to serve on the California Commission on Judicial Performance. As president of the Los Angeles YWCA, Shaw was involved in establishing and operating the Women’s Job Corps, where she eventually moved from volunteer to professional staff. She also served as a member of the YWCA National Board, as well as the YWCA National World Service Council. 

Source: https://www.swarchive.org/ann-shaw  
Photo Source: California Social Welfare Archives 

Barbara J. Solomon, MSW, DSW 

A gifted leader, scholar and social worker, Professor Emerita Barbara J. Solomon was born and raised in Houston. She earned her MSW from the University of California, Berkeley in 1956. Solomon earned her DSW from the USC School of Social Work in 1966 and became a professor there in 1977. She was named vice provost for graduate and professional studies and dean of the Graduate School in 1988 and was the first African American dean at the university. 

Gifted author of innovative texts, Solomon published several volumes including Mental Health Service in Inner City Churches, which deals heavily with the delivery of social and mental health services to underrepresented populations. Her landmark and extraordinarily influential text, Black Empowerment: Social Work in Oppressed Communities (1976), introduced the concept of empowerment as a framework for social work practice. Solomon’s achievements have earned her USC’s highest honor “the Presidential Medallion” as well as the Rosa Parks Award from the Los Angeles chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. 

Source: https://www.swarchive.org/barbara-solomon  
Photo Source: California Social Welfare Archives 

Howard H. Carey, MSW 

A leading figure in the social services system in San Diego County, Howard H. Carey played an instrumental role in the delivery of a broad spectrum of comprehensive health and human care programs to underserved and vulnerable populations. 

As president and CEO of Neighborhood House Association, a nonprofit dedicated to addressing community needs in the San Diego region, he oversaw a broad array of programs ranging from child development services, youth gang diversion, employment services, adult physical rehabilitation, mental health programs, and housing and rental assistance.  

Carey received numerous accolades for his work, including a citation in 1977 from United Way of San Diego for dedication, extraordinary service, and outstanding commitment to human care ideals. In 1988, he received the Ben Polak Award of Excellence, honoring his professional leadership in human care services. The San Diego Police Department recognized him in 1989 with an award for exemplary leadership and dedicated service. 

Source: https://www.swarchive.org/howard-carey  
Photo Source: California Social Welfare Archives 

Wildred D. “Bill” Coggins, MSW 

The Kaiser Permanente Watts Counseling and Learning Center—known simply as “the Center”—got its start in 1967 in the front seat of Bill Coggins’ van. Coggins had recently returned to Los Angeles from a year as a Fulbright Scholar at the renowned Tavistock Clinic in London when Kaiser Permanente hired him to conceptualize and develop a program to meet the social and emotional needs of the Watts community, which was still recovering from the violence that had rocked the area two years earlier. To assess those needs, for nine months Coggins met with community members and local leaders in his makeshift mobile office. Out of those meetings grew an agency that has benefited generations of Watts residents, living up to its motto: “Helping People Grow.” 

The Center, which Kaiser Permanente calls “the jewel in its crown,” provides essential mental health and educational resources free or at minimal cost for the children and families in the Watts neighborhood, whether or not they are Kaiser Permanente members. Coggins has been described as the heart and soul of the Center, which continues to grow from the creative and thoughtful leadership with which he guided it for three decades 

Source: https://www.swarchive.org/wilfred-coggins  
Photo Source: California Social Welfare Archives 

Alex J. Norman, MSW 

Alex J. Norman was the first African American doctoral graduate from the UCLA Department of Social Welfare.  

Among his many professional activities, Norman served as the Associate Director of the Los Angeles Center for Social Research; Director of the Departments of Urban Affairs and Social Welfare at UCLA Extension; worked as the supervisor of investigations for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Los Angeles Area Office; and, as the Training Director of the Economic and Youth Opportunities Agency of Greater Los Angeles. 

As a proponent of social justice and wellness, Norman contributed nine books on topics related to multiethnic coalition building, evaluating community collaborations, and urban planning. His over 20 peer-reviewed articles have been published in various journals and address community organization, planning human service delivery systems, and building coalitions across ethnic and racial lines. 

Source: https://www.swarchive.org/alex-norman 
Photo Source: California Social Welfare Archives 

Joseph A. Nunn, MSW  

Joe Nunn spent most of his career increasing diversity and representation in UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Nunn taught courses on cross-cultural awareness and social work. He played an integral role in developing the first course on juvenile justice for UCLA Social Welfare.  

Over his career, Nunn has been awarded regional and national honors such as the National Association of Social Work, California Chapter Social Worker of the Year. Since 2007, he has been the namesake for UCLA Luskin’s Joseph A. Nunn Social Welfare Alumni of the Year. For decades, Joe Nunn has been an observer, an instigator of change and a teacher in a profession that, at its heart, continues to advance one overriding mission — public service. 

Source: https://luskin.ucla.edu/joe-nunn-at-the-heart-of-social-work-education  
Photo Source: UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs 

Lawanna R. Barron, BCD, ACSW, LCSW 

Lawanna R. Barron served 33 years with the federal government as a Social Worker in the acute psychiatry ward at the Tuskegee, Alabama Department of Veteran Affairs and as a military social worker with the Family Advocacy Program. Prior to these appointments she served as Chief Social Worker at the Medical College of Georgia, Department of Pediatrics Children and Youth Project in Augusta, Georgia.  

As a subject matter expert in preventing and treating child and partner maltreatment with military families, Barron was selected to be a member of many task forces through the Headquarters Air Force Medical Operation Agency. In addition, she served as the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Chief Counselor and later as an EEO Counselor.  

Barron founded the NASW South Georgia Unit and served as the Past President of the NASW Georgia Chapter. She also served two terms on the NASW Board of Directors. In 2015, she was awarded the NASW Distinguished Social Worker Award. 

Source: https://www.naswfoundation.org/Our-Work/NASW-Social-Work-Pioneers/NASW-Social-Workers-Pioneers-Bio-Index/id/943  
Photo Source: NASW Foundation