Brave Ideas for Social Change

GSSW Board of Advisors Vice Chair Richard Lewis discusses the BIPOC Nonprofit Development Center he founded and ways that schools of social work can partner to better serve their communities.

Yesenia Silva Estrada  graduated from GSSW’s Western Colorado MSW Program in 2017. Today, she practices as a macro social worker, serving as vice president of planning and chief of staff for Colorado Mountain College in Glenwood Springs. As a first-generation college student born outside of United States and raised in rural Colorado, she has a unique perspective on the role of social work in culti...

Breast cancer survivor  Diane M. Simard  is a member of GSSW’s newly established Board of Advisors and a friend to the University of Denver. She has been working to raise awareness about the unique mental health needs of cancer patients and to transform systems to better meet those needs. In 2016, she founded the  Center for Oncology Psychology Excellence , or COPE, at the University of Denver  Gr...

GSSW Assistant Professor Tyrone Hamler discusses his work to advance health equity across the lifespan.

GSSW Professor Johnny Kim is working to expand adolescent mental health care access through approaches such as solution-focused brief therapy, an evidence-based therapy model.

GSSW Clinical Professor Philip Tedeschi extends the concept of social justice to include nonhuman animals, noting that animal, human and environmental well-being are inextricably linked.

GSSW Associate Professor Anamika Barman Adhikari discusses the use of artificial intelligence in social work research and practice.

Equity Labs Executive Director Chenthu Jayton discusses the organization’s work to advance liberation and justice and steps that individuals can take to center liberation and justice in their own lives and work.

Assistant Professor Marquisha Lawrence Scott discusses the role of congregations as social problem-solvers, today and into the future.

Associate Professor Stacey Freedenthal discusses her latest book — “Loving Someone with Suicidal Thoughts” — and the concept of listening bravely.

Assistant Prof. Sophia Sarantakos focuses their research, writing and organizing on how professionalized social-change work — including social work — can be shaped to serve an abolitionist horizon.

Professor and Associate Dean for Research and Faculty Development Jenn Bellamy teaches research and theory courses at GSSW and has been working to advance social and racial justice in social work practice and in social work education and research — both within the school and in the broader academy. This requires addressing racism and oppression at structural levels in higher education and that all...

The University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work Assistant Professor Erin Harrop works to increase awareness of weight stigma in social work.

Associate Professor Ramona Beltrán highlights the role of storytelling in articulating creative responses to pressing issues, including historical trauma and healing.

Assistant Professor Kaipeng Wang works to understand how social determinants — such as discrimination, acculturation, and food insecurity — contribute to health and mental health disparities among ethnic minorities and immigrants, particularly older adults. His work informs the development, evaluation and implementation of culturally sensitive interventions to improve mental health outcomes for ol...

Graduate School of Social Work Research Professor Kevin Morris discusses how the Institute for Human–Animal Connection advances social justice through research.

GSSW Professor Emeritus John Kayser discusses the role of historical consciousness and imagination in reckoning with our past, repairing harms, and improving how we teach and practice social work.

Associate Professor Shannon Sliva shares her ideas on restorative justice and how we can create conditions for justice and healing, creating a world that focuses on collective care as an alternative to the criminal legal system.

Professor Deb Ortega discusses key concepts of critical race theory, how it can improve understanding of social problems and development of interventions, and how it can be used to cultivate compassion.

Professor Daniel Brisson discusses recent innovations in housing and homelessness, including trauma-informed design and the Denver Basic Income Project.

Social workers can address climate change and environmental justice by developing regenerative futures solutions in the communities where they live and work.

How social workers can transform moral distress into moral courage to advocate for and affect systems change.