Ilana Shtivelman is a social work intern at GSDI, and a second-year Master of Social Work student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is pursuing the Community, Management, and Policy Practice concentration in social work and … Read more

Emmanuel Owusu Amoako is a Royster Fellow, a doctoral student at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work, and a Research Associate with Global Social Development Innovations (GSDI). He received his Bachelor of Arts in Social Work and Sociology from the University of Ghana in 2018, and a Master of Social Work degree from Washington University in St. Louis in 2021, where he specialized in research and economic development. His research interest is in interventions and policies that address structural inequalities and advance the social protection and economic well-being of oppressed individuals and families, especially in low-income communities. Previously, Emmanuel worked as a community development officer at the Volta River Authority in Ghana and as a graduate research fellow for social and economic development on HIV/AIDS-related studies in Uganda and Ghana at the Brown School at Washington University. Emmanuel also works with the Health Lab at the University of Chicago as an Implementation Manager, providing research support on multiple intervention studies.

Daniels Akpan is a Research Assistant at Global Social Development Innovations (GSDI) and a graduate student in the Educational Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) School of Education. He is also enrolled in both graduate certificate programs in Innovation for Public Good and Participatory Research at UNC-CH. He holds an undergraduate degree in Industrial Design from Ahmadu Bello University, Nigeria. He has also received training from the Appalachian State University(USA), the University of Addis Ababa(Ethiopia), and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (Ghana). Daniel’s research interests include international education policy, international development, women and girls’ education, and empowerment. He has experience working with marginalized and vulnerable populations at the African Centre for Education Development, where he designed and implemented several projects in Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Gambia, Rwanda, Uganda, and Cameroon, reaching over 120,000 young people.

Dicky Baruah (She/He/Dicky) is a non-binary person from India, a doctoral student at the UNC-Chapel Hill School of Social Work, and a Research Associate at Global Social Development Innovations (GSDI). Dicky completed a B.Sc. in Home Science (Specialization in Human Development) in 2009 from the Assam Agricultural University, India, and an MA in Counselling Psychology in 2011 from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, India. Dicky has over a decade of field experience working with various non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and community-based organizations (CBOs) in many fields: LGBTQIA+ community, HIV/AIDS and STI, research and training, advocacy, women and children, microfinance in rural India, and corporate social responsibility. Dicky’s research interests are the LGBTQIA+ community, HIV treatment and prevention, intersectionality, stigma, and discrimination, neo-HIV prevention techniques (e.g., PrEP), and health inequalities.

Joan Wangui Wanyama is a first-year doctoral student at the School of Social Work and a Research Associate at Global Social Development Innovations (GSDI). She holds a Master of Social Work, Community Practice degree with an International Social Work Concentration from Baylor University, a Master of Arts degree in Project Planning and Management, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work, both from the University of Nairobi. Her research interests are creating equal opportunities for low-income communities and eliminating inequalities reinforced by poverty through innovations for social development. She is keen on data-driven intervention research, targeting children and youth in low-income international communities. Joan has experience coordinating and supporting various child safeguarding, gender-mainstreaming, and disability inclusion programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. She has been involved in community service initiatives, serving underprivileged populations in different capacities in government and local and international non-profits. Her core competencies include project management, program design, implementation, evaluation, fundraising, and grant writing.

Amy Locklear Hertel is a citizen of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina and a descendant with close ties to the Coharie Indian Tribe. She is currently the Executive Vice Provost at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Clinical Assistant Professor at the UNC School of Social Work. Hertel’s research and practice centers indigenous knowledge and values as an asset to inform social and political action, leadership, and community development, as well as inclusion and engagement across cultures.

Graham is an international Ph.D. student of social work at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) and a Research Assistant with the Global Social Development Innovations (GSDI) Center at UNC-Chapel Hill. His research interests include socio-economic policy, global social work, and HIV prevention.

Miranda is the Research Project Coordinator for Global Social Development Innovations (GSDI) at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work. She manages and coordinates the implementation of GSDI’s work. Miranda is passionate about youth development and strongly believes that youth be included throughout all phases of research. Miranda’s objective as a social work professional is to innovatively improve the ways in which systems impact youth in order to improve health, behavior, and social outcomes.

Dr. Bilotta is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work. Dr. Bilotta’s work explores social inclusion and culturally responsive ethics of global social work, including youth participation in evaluation research and social development. He is interested in the ways colonialism and Eurocentric power inform research methodologies and social work interventions with communities who face substantiated subjugation. He has worked with forcibly displaced young people in sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, the U.S., and Canada.

Dr. Ansong is an Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work and a Research Associate at the Center for Social Development (CSD). His areas of research expertise include economic and educational disparities, youth asset development, and international social development. He has been particularly involved in international research on asset development for low-income households and youth. His current research examines the impacts of youth savings accounts on in-school behavior and academic performance…