Around the globe, social development efforts increasingly recognize the central role that financial inclusion can play in household financial well-being. Policies, practices and services are evolving to leverage innovative strategies for broadening access to the financial mainstream. What can we learn from these efforts?
Please join us for an event showcasing innovative examples of financial capability and asset building from both the Global South and the Global North. The speakers also will highlight impacts from the Center for Social Development’s research over the past 30 years.
WEBINAR
March 19, 2025
08:00–09:30 (central U.S., UTC – 6)
UTC – 8 06:00–07:30 (pacific U.S.)
UTC – 5 09:00–10:30 (eastern U.S.)
UTC + 2 15:00–16:30
UTC + 5 18:00–19:30
UTC + 8 21:00–22:30
Featured Presentations
Financial Social Work in Mainland China
Shu Fang
Central University of Finance
and Economics
Financial Capability and Asset Building in Africa
David Ansong
University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
FCAB Training of Social Workers in Singapore
Corinne Ghoh
National University of Singapore
Asset-Building Accounts for All Children in Kazakhstan
Aytakin Huseynli
Washington University
Savings Accounts for Education and Development of Children and Teenagers in Taiwan
Ching-Ling Li
Ming Chuan University
Moderator
William and Helen Reichmann Research Professor, Saint Louis University
Research Professor, Brown School at Washington University
Associate Director for Research, Center for Social Development
Participants
Associate Professor and Wallace Kuralt Early Career Distinguished Scholar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Faculty Director,
Center for Social Development
David Ansong is an Associate Professor and Wallace Kuralt Early Career Distinguished Scholar at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work, as well as a Faculty Director at the Center for Social Development, where is leads the Financial Capability and Asset Building in Africa (FCAB Africa) initiative. Ansong’s research focuses on factors that promote economic security and the well-being of children and youth. He is involved in international research on the impacts of economic security interventions on child and youth development. His domestic research focuses on testing innovative interventions to bolster the financial capability of relatives who provide permanent care for children in foster care. Author of over 60 peer-reviewed publications, Ansong serves as Associate Editor of the Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.
Professor, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing
Faculty Director,
Center for Social Development
Shu Fang is Professor in the School of Sociology and Psychology and Head of the Department of Social Work at Central University of Finance and Economics in Beijing, as well as Faculty Director at the Center for Social Development, where he directs projects on financial capability and asset building in mainland China. An expert in financial social work, social policy, and financial capability, he is the author or editor of eight books and numerous peer-reviewed articles. Fang serves as the Secretary-General of China Association of Social Work Education’s Financial Social Work Commission and as Director of the China Society of Social Work.
Associate Professor,
National University of Singapore
Faculty Director,
Center for Social Development
Corinne Ghoh, PhD, is Associate Professor (Practice) in the Department of Social Work at the National University of Singapore (NUS) and a Faculty Director at the Center for Social Development. Her experience and expertise in the social work field stretch more than 35 years in various domains, including the protection of the welfare of vulnerable individuals and families, community development and aging matters. Prior to joining NUS, she was the Senior Consultant at the Ageing Planning Office, Ministry of Health, Singapore, contributing to research, policy development, and implementation in the aging field. Previously, she held key appointments as the Director of Rehabilitation and Protection Division and the Director of Social Welfare at then Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports, Singapore (currently known as the Ministry of Social and Family Development), overseeing the statutory functions in the rehabilitation of young offenders and in the protection of vulnerable children and individuals from abuse and/or neglect. Corinne hopes to continue to contribute to the social work field through education and research, particularly in the field of aging and management of human service organizations.
William and Helen Reichmann Research Professor, Saint Louis University
Research Professor, Brown School at Washington University
Associate Director for Research, Center for Social Development
Jin Huang, PhD, is the William and Helen Reichmann Research Professor in the Saint Louis University School of Social Work, part-time Research Professor in the Brown School at Washington University, and Associate Director for Research at the Center for Social Development. Huang’s research interests center on social policies that support family and child well-being, with a particular focus on financial capability and asset building (FCAB) programs for disadvantaged populations. He has studied diverse populations with disadvantaged backgrounds, such as low-income children, children with disabilities, children of immigrants, and youth in transition to adulthood. Huang conducts research using large-scale policy experiments and national representative surveys. His research aims for universal FCAB policies for all.
His findings have contributed to improvements in FCAB policies in the United States, Mainland China, Taiwan, and Singapore. His research has appeared in peer-reviewed journals including JAMA Pediatrics, the American Journal of Public Health, Social Science & Medicine, Social Service Review, and Social Science Research.
Huang is one of the network co-leads to the Social Work Grand Challenge of Financial Capability and Asset Building for All. He serves as a member of the board of directors of Influencing Social Policy (ISP) and on the editorial board of the Journal of Policy Practice and Research. Previously, he was a practitioner working with people with disabilities in the United States and China, as well as a policy intern at the U.S. Social Security Administration.
Assistant Research Professor,
Brown School at Washington University
Center for Social Development
Aytakin Huseynli, MSW, PhD, is an Assistant Research Professor in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis. Huseynli conducts applied research on social policies to improve the well-being of families and children. She specifically focuses on oil-, gas-, and mineral-rich countries. She also studies social-work, child, and family policies in the former Soviet Union countries of Eurasia. She is actively involved in global social development through UNICEF, the International Federation of Social Workers, the International Council on Social Welfare, the International Consortium on Social Development, and Social Services in the Context of Conflict Network.
Assistant Professor,
Ming Chuan University
Ching-Ling Li holds a PhD in social work from National Taiwan University. She has extensive experience working in government, where she served as a public policy advisor. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Public Affairs and Administration at Ming Chuan University, Taiwan. Her research focuses on social assistance, poverty issues, anti-poverty programs, and social policy analysis. She also advises local governments on the implementation of the Children’s Future Education and Development Account program and on employment services for disadvantaged groups.
Sponsors
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.
Brown School Global Programs Office
The Brown School Global Programs Office aims to improve the social well-being and health of the most vulnerable populations by conducting groundbreaking research, educating scholar-practitioners, building enduring partnerships, deploying emerging technologies, and influencing policy makers, in order to promote just, equitable, and healthy societies around the world.
The International Association of Schools of Social Work
The International Association of Schools of Social Work (IASSW) is the worldwide association of schools of social work, other tertiary-level social work educational programs, and social work educators. The IASSW promotes the development of social work education throughout the world, develops standards to enhance the quality of social work education, encourages international exchange, provides forums for sharing social work research and scholarship, and promotes human rights and social development through policy and advocacy activities. IASSW holds consultative status with the United Nations and participates as an NGO in UN activities in Geneva, Vienna and New York. Through its work at the UN and with other international organizations, IASSW represents social work education at the international level.
China Financial Social Work (Professional) Commission
of the China Association of Social Work Education
In January 2020, over 30 social work departments and nearly 100 scholars in Mainland China founded the Financial Social Work Professional Committee of the China Association of Social Work Education. Its goal is to enhance curriculum development, faculty development, research, practice models, and service capabilities in the field. Since then, many BSW and MSW programs have started a financial social work education—with new courses, six textbooks, and the “Finance and Society” series (Vols. 1–6) launched. The committee has also established long-term partnerships with Visa, HSBC, Ant Group, and China Foundation for Development of Financial Education, leading to a 32-member National Financial Education Public Welfare Collaboration Network, the establishment of 61 community-based financial education stations in 24 provinces, and collaborations with 48 social service agencies that have benefited over 500,000 people. Additionally, it has promoted the creation of financial social work development centers in Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou.
National Alliance of Professional Social Workers of Kazakhstan
The National Alliance of Professional Social Workers of Kazakhstan (NAPSW), as a professional association of social work specialists, was founded on April 8, 2019, by enthusiasts in this field, the faculty of the Department of Sociology of the L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University. NAPSW is a national organization that strives for social justice, respect for human rights and social development through the promotion of social work, best practice models, and international cooperation.
The mission of the NASPW is to unite experts and specialists in social work to form a national concept for the development of social work and improvement of professional education in Kazakhstan. The members of the NASWP are professional social workers and specialists who perform social work functions in the systems of social protection, healthcare, education, and internal affairs. There are 11 branches of NAPSW throughout Kazakhstan.
Center for Economic and Social Development
The Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD) was set up in 2005 to promote research and analysis into domestic economic and social issues for the purpose of positively influencing the public policy decision-making processes. As the first independent think tank in Azerbaijan, the center is a leading Azerbaijani think tank specializing in social policy issues working with and establishing bridges between the government and the various representatives of civil society. CESD is the top think tank in the Southern Caucasus and Central Asia, according to the University of Pennsylvania (USA). CESD’s mission is to achieve an elimination of inequality, promotion of reforms, enhancing of transparency by supporting civil society development. The vision is equal socio-economic rights, no poverty, and active public participation.
International Consortium for Social Development
The International Consortium for Social Development (ICSD) is a non-profit international association of institutions, interdisciplinary scholars, practitioners, and students that builds and spreads knowledge of social development to eradicate poverty, improve standards of living and promote human equality and ecological sustainability. It was started in the 1970s by a group of social work educators to respond to pressing human concerns from an international, interdisciplinary perspective. For over 50 years, ICSD has promoted international collaboration, education, research, and the dissemination of knowledge by asking key questions, specifying theory, conducting research, using evidence to improve policy and practice, teaching, holding professional meetings, organizing international conferences, and publishing the international journal, Social Development Issues. It is committed to creating peaceful solutions to the problems and needs at the local, national and global levels. ICSD members use a social development approach to
- Develop capacity of individuals and communities, and institutions
- Promote world peace and social, economic and environmental justice
- Improve access to adequate health care and education, and social protection measures
- Overcome discrimination, particularly, against women and minorities, and similar groups
- Integrate social and economic well-being
This event is one of a series celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Center for Social Development and the centennial of the Brown School at Washington University.