Margaret Sherraden
CSD Research Professor; Washington University in St. Louis
Financial Capability: Combining Access and Abilities,
Civic Service and Engagement
- Email: msherraden@nospam.wustl.edu
MARGARET SHERRADEN, PhD, is a leader in financial capability and asset building. She has published seven books and numerous articles on advancing economic well-being. She led one of the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work Initiative papers on Financial Capability and Asset Building for All (FCAB), and is a co-lead of the FCAB network. Sherraden recently completed a book for social workers and other human service students on building financial capability and asset building in low-income households. Her prior research includes studies of international volunteering and service, microenterprise, and birth outcomes among immigrant women of Mexican descent.
In addition, Sherraden is an emeritus professor at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, where she most recently served as a Founder’s Professor of Social Work. She taught for 25 years in the UMSL School of Social Work, where she also chaired the master’s program in social work. She is a former Fulbright Fellow and two-term president of the Missouri Association for Social Welfare. She serves on the St. Louis Federal Reserve’s Community Development Advisory Council.
CSD Projects
Community Health Impacts of International Service in Uganda
Community and National Service
We designed a randomized clinical trial measuring the impacts of volunteer-based health trainings on behavior in central Uganda.
Financial Capability & Human Services Education
Financial Capability
We address the gap in professional FCAB training of social workers and other human service practitioners who serve low- and moderate-income households.
YouthSave
Global Asset Building
This initiative in Colombia, Ghana, Kenya and Nepal was to understand conditions for delivery of savings products and services to improve the lives of low-income youth.
Emerging Perspectives on International Volunteerism in Asia
International Service
Our project examines challenges and emerging perspectives in international volunteerism in Asia through an online survey and in-country interviews.
Impacts of International Service on European Volunteers and Host Communities in Africa
International Service
Our partnership with Volunteer Organization and Service Enquiry Southern Africa examines the impact of international service in South Africa, Mozambique and Tanzania.
Financial Capability & Asset Building (FCAB)
Asset Building
We are building a body of evidence in financial capability, defined as both the knowledge to make optimal financial decisions and access to appropriate and beneficial financial services.
North American Community Service (NACS)
International service
We evaluated a pilot project in transnational youth service and its impacts involving Mexican, Canadian, and U.S. youth.