From suffrage to civil rights, social workers have a long history of engaging at key points to bend momentum toward justice and democratic inclusion. Will they play a role in the 2024 elections?
The elections of 2024 will shape the United States for generations to come. From local races to the presidential contest, social workers and students can engage meaningfully to shift the course of the nation.
On September 12, a distinguished panel of changemakers convened for a nonpartisan discussion on why social workers and students should get involved in 2024 and offered strategies for making a difference in this historic moment.
September 12, 2024
12–1 PM (central)
With this event, the Center for Social Development honored the memory of Dr. Gena Gunn McClendon, a fierce champion of voting rights and the former Director of the center’s initiative on Voter Access and Engagement. It was first in a series of events marking the 30th anniversary of the Center for Social Development and the centennial of the Brown School at Washington University.
Resources
Slides | YT Bell
Slides | Tanya Rhodes Smith
Slides | Otto Brown
Slides | Mimi Abramovitz
Speakers
Georgia State Director,
Southern Poverty Law Center
Yterenickia “YT” Bell (she/her) is currently the Georgia State Director at the Southern Poverty Law Center, working to strengthen democracy, combat hate, and eradicate poverty. Previously, she was the Senior Director, And Still I Vote, for the Leadership Conference Education Fund. She also held the role of the National Organizing Director at Care in Action/National Domestic Workers Alliance, supervising the state directors and program managers in seven core states while developing electoral and legislative strategy for state and federal campaigns. Prior to that, she was the Director at the Progressive Governance Academy, a project between the State Innovation Exchange (SiX), Local Progress, and re:power to build and develop the leadership and governance skills of progressive state and local elected officials across the country. She was also the Deputy Director of a statewide public policy coalition table, Georgia Engaged (now America Votes Georgia), where she provided strategies and best practices for successful programmatic implementation. She is a native Georgian and graduated from Georgia State University with a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and political Science and a master’s in social work and public administration with a focus in economic development and planning. Bell has worked as a social worker and public policy professional, serving vulnerable communities and solving complex problems for over a decade. She is also a Councilwoman in the City of Clarkston, Georgia, and currently serves on the National Committee on Nominations & Leadership Identification (NCNLI), which is responsible for annual elections held by National Association of Social Workers.
Director, Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work, and Instructor in Residence, University of Connecticut School of Social Work
Co-Chair, Voting Is Social Work
Tanya Rhodes Smith is the Director of the Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work and Instructor in Residence at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. Her work examines voting as a social determinant of health and social work intervention. As Director, Tanya leads the Institute’s programming, including the Campaign School for Social Workers, which has trained more than 3,000 students, social workers, and advocates to engage and lead in electoral campaigns. In 2015, she co-founded the National Social Work Voter Mobilization Campaign to integrate voter engagement into social work education and practice. Her advocacy focuses on expanding voting rights and access, including overturning all forms of felony disenfranchisement. She serves on the Hartford Votes~Vota Coalition and the Board of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy. She is a member of the Scholars Strategy Network and a current grantee in their Election Protection and Enhancement Program. Find more information about the Institute’s research, publications, and work at ssw.uconn.edu or connect with her on LinkedIn at Tanya-Rhodes-Smith.
Civic Engagement Manager, Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement
Otto Brown (he/him) is the Civic Engagement Manager at the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at Washington University in St. Louis. He leads voter registration, engagement, and turnout initiatives at the Institute. He also develops programming to bolster civic dialogue and promote lifelong, engaged citizenship. Additionally, he supports the Civic Scholars program, of which he is an alumnus.
Prior to joining the Institute’s professional staff, Otto served as WashU Votes Co-Chair (2021–2023) and Outreach Chair (2020). He oversaw election administration for WashU’s undergraduate student government and was a St. Louis County Election Judge. Otto is a member of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools’ Alumni Association Executive Board and the Board of the League of Women Voters of Metro St. Louis.
Otto graduated with honors from Washington University with a bachelor’s degree in economics and political science. Originally from Chicago, Otto is a diehard Green Bay Packers fan, frequent West Wing watcher, avid outdoorsman, and St. Louis deli enthusiast.
Bertha Capen Reynolds Professor of Social Policy, Emerita, Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, CUNY
Co-Chair, Voting Is Social Work
Mimi Abramovitz, Bertha Capen Reynolds Professor of Social Policy, Emerita, studies poverty, inequality, neoliberalism, nonprofit organizations, and activism through the lens of race, class gender, and history. Author of 90 plus articles and four books, including Regulating the Lives of Women: Social Welfare Policy from Colonial Times to the Present (4th ed., 2025), she is currently writing Gendered Obligations: The History of Activism Among Black and White Working-Class Women Since 1900. Often introduced as a scholar and an activist, Abramovitz currently co-leads Voting is Social Work (National Social Work Mobilization Campaign), which focused her attention on the rising Threats to Democracy in the United States. She has received 19 awards, the most recent of which are the Lifetime Award for Excellence (Hunter College, 2021) and an Honorary Doctorate (Lund University, Sweden, 2022).
George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor, and Director, Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis
Michael Sherraden, PhD, is the George Warren Brown Distinguished University Professor at Washington University in St. Louis, founding director of Washington University’s Center for Social Development, and founding director of Next Age Institute, a collaboration between Washington University and National University of Singapore, where he was the inaugural S.R. Nathan Professor of Social Work. In creating and testing innovations to improve well-being, Sherraden has defined and informed a growing body of applied research and policy to promote inclusion in asset building. This work has influenced numerous asset-based policies and programs in the United States and other countries, including Child Development Account policies. Sherraden has received the Distinguished Career Achievement Award from the Society for Social Work and Research, the Career Achievement Award from the Association for Community Organization and Social Administration, and numerous other honors. TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. He was recently named a Social Work Pioneer by the NASW Foundation.
Sponsors
This event was sponsored by the Center for Social Development at Washington University in St. Louis, the National Association of Social Workers, the Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement at Washington University, the Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work at the University of Connecticut School of Social Work, the Grand Challenges for Social Work, the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy, and Voting Is Social Work.
Center for Social Development
The Center for Social Development in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis is a hub for implementing and testing applied social innovations that broaden well-being for individuals, families and communities. Now celebrating its 30th anniversary, the center incubates ideas that can be scaled to reach millions and creates new fields of study to meet social needs. CSD also trains emerging scholars and practitioners in the effective conduct of engaged social-science research. Learn more.
National Association of Social Workers
Founded in 1955, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world. NASW works to enhance the professional growth and development of its members, to create and maintain professional standards, and to advance sound social policies. Learn more.
Gephardt Institute for Civic and Community Engagement
The Gephardt Institute fosters a vibrant culture of civic engagement throughout Washington University by catalyzing student learning, participation, and impact in civic life through three core pillars. In Engage St. Louis, the institute fosters opportunities for students to learn from and contribute positively to change efforts in the St. Louis region; in Engage Democracy, students learn the knowledge, skills, responsibilities, and habits of citizen engagement in democracy; and in Lead Change, students prepare to be civic leaders wherever they live and work throughout their lives. Learn more.
Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work
The Nancy A. Humphreys Institute for Political Social Work at the UConn School of Social Work works to increase the political participation and power of social workers and the communities we serve so public policy reflects our profession’s values and commitment to social justice. Learn more.
Grand Challenges for Social Work
The Grand Challenges for Social Work is a groundbreaking initiative to champion social progress powered by science. It’s a call to action for social work researchers and practitioners to harness social work’s science and knowledge base; collaborate with individuals, community-based organizations, and professionals from all fields and disciplines; and work together to tackle some of our most challenging social problems. Learn more.
Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy
The Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP) is an independent, nonpartisan 501(c)4 organization established in 2012 to complement the mission of the Congressional Social Work Caucus and to raise social workers’ knowledge of the federal legislative process. Founded by Dr. Charles E. Lewis Jr. with the assistance of Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns, the Institute hosts the annual Social Work Day on the Hill and Student Advocacy Day events, as well as Congressional and White House briefings, lectures, and other events.
Learn more.
Voting Is Social Work is a nonpartisan campaign that provides social workers with the knowledge and tools to raise awareness about voting and to increase voting registration and participation. We do this work through our National Social Work Voter Mobilization Campaign, which strives to integrate nonpartisan voter registration and engagement into social work education and practice.
Learn more.
About Voter Access and Engagement at CSD
A strong democracy depends on a guarantee that all Americans deserve and can exercise the right to vote. CSD’s Voter Access and Engagement initiative works to protect voting rights through research and social innovation. The initiative examines practices and policies, investigates social conditions that threaten the right to vote, and tests strategies for inclusive participation in the voting process. Learn more.