By S. Jolene Hui, MSW Membership Coordinator
Shauna Naima Blakely is extremely driven. She went straight from high school to college to graduate school without stopping for a breath. Helping other people has always been part of who she is and she’s been working in human services since she was in high school.
Blakely’s career began when she worked for the Boys and Girls Club in high school and college. One of the things she’s most proud of is leaving home to go across the country to Green Mountain College in Vermont on a basketball scholarship where she also played softball and volleyball — while double majoring in psychology and sociology/anthropology.
During that time, she became interested in Fordham University in New York City when she was playing on the road. She subsequently ended up applying to its MSW program and was accepted.
She graduated in 2008, earning her MSW with a concentration in children and families and a specialization in social work and the law. Blakely said that she loved working with children at Head Start when she was in grad school. At that time she also interned at Legal Services of New York. Her stay in New York ended when she moved back home to Los Angeles after she graduated. She then worked for a Department of Mental Health contracted program and then started as an emergency response worker for the Department of Children and Family Services where she currently works.
She believes that “being a social worker for CPS has a bad rap. But I feel I have helped a lot of families. I love that each day is different and I’m helping people.”
Currently co-chair of the San Fernando Valley unit and former social/activities chair for the New Professionals Network-LA, Blakely says she is proud of her roles and hopes to inspire others to be “more active in the professional organization and help others see social work as a profession and not just a job.”
Blakely is also passionate about self-care for social workers. She recently organized and headed the planning committee for a successful Social Work Month Self-Care event for social workers in the Los Angeles area called, “Social Workers Matter: A Day of Self Care.”
“Because a helping career is so stressful, self-care is very important. I try not to let work rule my entire life so I force myself after work and weekends to do things that make me happy …” she says.
Blakely also loves socializing and sees the importance of bringing people together. One of the things she loves about her positions with NASW is putting together networking events.
“Networking is important and today who you know is very important. Meeting new people, you never know what that relationship can bring you.”
She strives to always be meeting new people because they she sees them as important connections with help for referrals, job opportunities, and learning experiences.
Future plans included awaiting approval to take the LCSW exam and after she passes, she says, “Then the sky is the limit!”
S. Jolene Hui, MSW, is NASW-CA’s membership coordinator and can be reached at jhui@naswca.org.
