Joan Wangui Wanyama, MSW
jwanyama@unc.edu
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.