SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT (ICSD) - Key Persons
Benjamin Lough is a Professor of Social Work and Business Administration and Director of Social Innovation at the Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He also holds positions as Senior Research Associate with the Center for Social Development, University of Johannesburg, and Faculty Director of International Service at the Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis. He is a Senior Researcher for the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. Ben's research and teaching interests include volunteerism, community development, grassroots social innovation, and non-profit management. He was the lead researcher and author of the UN State of the Worlds Volunteerism Report and is currently researching the contributions of international volunteers to gender equality from the perspectives of partner organizations. Dr. Lough earned his Ph.D. in Social Work from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis in 2010.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Board
- Senior Lecturer
Dr George Palattiyil is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Edinburgh and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK. With teaching and research experience spanning across India, Scotland, Jordan, Uganda and Bangladesh, he is passionate about internationalising the curriculum and cross-cultural learning and in 2019, won the Best Personal Tutor Award from the Edinburgh University Student Association. He sits on the Board of Directors of Multi-Cultural Family Base, and the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services. He has served on the British Journal of Social Work editorial board and currently contributes to the Editorial Board of Practice - Social Work in Action and European Social Work Research Journal, as well as the International Committee of JUCSWEC. More info about Dr Palattiyil can be found here.
Job Titles:
- Emeritus, Social of Social Work, Louisiana
Dr Mohan, Dean Emeritus, Social of Social Work, Louisiana State University, USA, is renowned as a scholarly editor, master teacher and prolific author. His most recent books include: Development, Poverty of Culture and Social Policy (Palgrave, 2011), Climate ,Economy and Justice (Palgrave, 2015), The Future of Social Work (Sage, 2018) and Social Policy on the Cusp (Nova, 2020). He has earned numerous honors and awards including a D. Litt. from M.K. Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith and the Life-Time Achievement Award from the National Association of Professional Social Workers in India.
Job Titles:
- Social Worker
- Associate Secretary - Membership
Sharvari Karandikar began her career practicing as a social worker for sex workers and victims of sex trafficking in Mumbai, India. During her Ph.D. program in Social Work at University of Utah, and through her work at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) in Mumbai and later at the Ohio State University, she has focused her research efforts on issues related to the female sex workers and victims of sex trafficking particularly on gender-based violence, health and mental health issues. Dr. Karandikar's current research relates to sex work and sex trafficking in Asia, egg donation, international gestational surrogacy, medical tourism and its impact on women.
Dr Tejaswini Patil, is a Senior Lecturer and Acting Program Coordinator of the Master of Social Work (Qualifying) program at Federation University Australia. She completed her doctoral studies from the University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia and her Masters in Political Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. She has extensive teaching and research experience and her interest's spans broad fields related to social work, such as critical social work education, reflective practice and cross-cultural practice, cultural diversity, social inclusion, multiculturalism and institutionalised discourses of discrimination and stigma. She has published papers on diversity, critical reflection in social work education and on discrimination and stigma among consumers of medically assisted treatment of opioid dependence. She is currently involved in 4 funded research and 2 unfunded projects. The projects span a diverse range of fields, namely, developing critical welfare education at a program level, evaluating diversity and social inclusion in regional Victoria, evaluating trauma informed practice at a systems level in regional Victoria and integrating multi-disciplinary practice in work integrated learning.
Job Titles:
- Director of Information Technology
Dr Kumar has a multidisciplinary background in Global Health and Social Work. He earned a doctoral degree in Global Health from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, which examine the delivery of mental health and non-communicable disease service at the public hospitals in India. He has taught social work courses in India and the UK and supervised many students for their field work practicum. Regarding social work practice, Dr Kumar has implemented various projects related to community health, emergency response, homelessness and livelihood for marginalised communities for the past 8 years. He has received numerous grants for his research projects and social enterprise. Dr Kumar's research interests include health care for elderly, mental health services delivery, homelessness, education, health system strengthening. Dr Kumar is keen in working with students and colleagues to use technologies to develop models and interventions to tackle contemporary social problems at local and global level.
Dr. Arthur Katz, former dean of the KU School of Social Welfare from 1968 to 1974 and acting dean from 1976 to 1977, has passed away at the age of 95. Dr. Katz was the founding dean of the School of Social Welfare at the University of Kansas. Prior to his arrival, the social work degree was housed as a department in the College of Liberal Arts and Science and offices were located in Blake Hall. According to the book "Transitions - The Emergence, Growth, and Development of the School of Social Welfare" by Shirley Patterson and Ben Zimmerman as editors, "Dr. Katz made it clear that it was his expectation that there would be support for autonomous school status for the Social Work Department." And within his first year of his tenure, he was able to make this true. He decided to call us the School of Social Welfare instead of the School of Social Work, since he felt social welfare was a broader term and designated policy and social reform implications instead of the narrower term of social work. With the School status, he was momentous in securing Twente Hall and Watkins Home as the two buildings to house the School on campus. After his tenure at KU, he later became executive director of the Council on Social Work Education and retired from faculty in 1986.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the International Consortium
Dr. Asok Kumar Sarkar, Chairperson of the International Consortium for Social Development Asia Pacific branch, is Professor of Social Work. Presently, he serves as Head, Department of Social Work, Visva-Bharati, India and also Principal, Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Visva-Bharati, Sriniketan, India. He is an alumnus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Formerly, he worked as Head, Department of Social Work, Assam University, Silchar, Assam. He has authored and edited books such as NGOs: The New Lexicon of Health Care (Concept), NGOs and Globalization: Developmental and Organizational Facets (Rawat), Human Development and Sustainability: Challenges and Strategies (Atlantic), and Welfare of Disadvantaged: Exploring Community Development Approach (Concept). His forthcoming co-edited books include ‘Peace Building Initiatives' (Manak) and ‘Women's Empowerment and Non-Governmental Public Action in South Asia' (Palgrave Macmillan). He is the founding editor of Journal of Social Work and Social Development, a UGC-CARE listed journal (of India) and served from 2010 to 2017. His areas of research interests include maternal morbidity, reproductive health, health care, NGOs and social development.
Dr. Chathapuram Ramanathan, PhD., ACSW, LMSW, LMFT, CAC has worked in the human service area for four decades, including as a practitioner, educator, administrator, and is a Professor, School of Social Work, Illinois State University. Dr. Ramanathan graduated with an MSW and a Doctoral degree in Social work and Human Resources Management from the University of Illinois. His practice and scholarship focus on cross-cultural issues, social work practice, social development, addiction recovery, corporate social responsibility. He has been providing Psychotherapy services for about 40 years, is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and a Licensed Clinical and Macro Social Worker. Dr. Ramanathan serves ICSD as an Associate Secretary General, Linkages and relations with regional branches.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Secretary General
Dr Francis Ogojo Okello is a Director, Monitoring, Evaluation, Research, Learning and Adaptation at Panagora Group in Silver Spring, Maryland, USA. He has over 25 years of experience leading research, monitoring, evaluation and learning components of global and bilateral assistance development projects funded by the United States Agency for International Development. His prior experience includes work with multiple US-based global development consulting firms, including Abt Associates, Chemonics International, FHI 360, Population Services International and Social Impact. His country experience includes 12 sub-Saharan Africa countries, two in Asia (the Philippines and Bangladesh) and two in South America (Columbia and Surinam). He has a passion for social development, mixed-methods research, implementation science, data use and knowledge management. Dr Okello received his Bachelor of Arts in Social Sciences (Sociology & Social Administration) and Master of Arts (Sociology) degrees from Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, and PhD from Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia.
Job Titles:
- President
- President of the International Consortium
Dr. Manohar Pawar is the president of the International Consortium for Social Development (ICSD) and is professor of social work, School of Social Work and Arts, Charles Sturt University, Australia. He was the former president of the ICSD Asia Pacific Branch, 2006 to 2016. He is the founding Editor-in-Chief of a peer reviewed journal entitled the International Journal of Community and Social Development, published by SAGE. Professor Pawar has successfully conceptualised, led and implemented national and international research projects funded by the Australian Research Council and Japan Foundation Asia Centre. He has contributed to 165+ publications, including over 20 books/mono graphs. His publications include: Future Directions in Social development (co-edited, Palgrave Macmillan, 2017); Social and Community Development Practice (SAGE, 2014); and International Social Work (co-authored, SAGE, 2013).
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Lecturer
- Member of the Board
Dr. Marissa Kaloga is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at University of Otago in Aotearoa New Zealand where she teaches community and organizational development. Her community-based research focuses on inclusive entrepreneurship, and how to promote social and economic justice through coordinated systems change approaches. She has conducted mixed-methods applied research with diverse communities in Africa, Asia, North America, and Oceania. As Director of Innovation, she ran The Economic & Community Development Institute's Business Innovation Centre and Women's Business Centre. She was the 2018-2019 Fulbright Scholar to Guinea, leading research on connectivity in Conakry's entrepreneurial ecosystem. My vision for the ICSD is an organization that serves as a catalyst for interdisciplinary knowledge sharing that fosters innovative ideas in support of social development.
Job Titles:
- Vice - President for Public Relations & Communications
Mostafizur Rahman, MSW, PhD, is currently serving as Chairman of the Department of Folklore Studies at the Islamic University, Kushtia-Jhenaidah, Bangladesh. He is a Member of the Academic Council and of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the Research University. He is a Visiting Professor of Noble International University-NIU (USA). Prior to this he was a Consultant for News, Assignment Editor and Senior News Host of a Bengali Television Network- Boishakhi Television in Bangladesh.Dr. Rahman was as Digital Media Advisor to the ICSD in December 2019.
Internationally acclaimed television journalist, broadcaster and versatile media personality Dr. Rahman is known as Mithun Mostafiz in the global media sphere with two decades of experience in mass communication having multi-tasking and multi-lingual abilities. He is a Member of United Nations Journalists Inter-Governmental Organization- UNJIGO. Dr. Rahman is the Editor of reputed Bengali National News Paper- The Daily Bangladesh Shomoy and Global Affairs Editor of Channel 52 Television based in USA. He was honoured by the City of Paterson Authority of NJ, USA in 2016 for his outstanding contribution to the international media. Amnesty International, UK Member Dr. Rahman is an Ambassador of Bangladesh for the World Peace Organisation- WPO. He is the Founder President of the News Broadcasters Association of Bangladesh- NBA as well.
Dr. Rahman has authored the book ‘Khasi women in Bangladesh' and his two other books are under the printing process. Ethno cultural diversity, communication, volunteerism, folklore and socio-environmental issues are his areas of research Interest.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University
Eleni Papouli is an Assistant Professor of Social Work at the University of West Attica. From 2003 to 2018, she worked as a full-time professor of applications at the Department of Social Work of the TEI of Athens, where she graduated in 1993. She earned her BSW degree from Technological Institute of Athens, her MA (ICW) from the University of East Anglia (UK) and her PhD from the University of Sussex (UK). Papouli was a social worker before moving into social work education. She has a long experience in teaching and research and in 2015, became a teaching fellow at the Munich University of Applied Sciences (MUAS). Eleni teaches theory and practice courses for both the BSW and MSW programs. She also runs the pedagogical project "Diversity Dolls" in order to promote respect for human diversity, as a value and attitude of life, in every social, educational and professional environment. She is author of various publications.
Job Titles:
- Assistant Professor
- Dean
- Member of the Board
- Researcher
Liljana Rihter, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor, researcher and dean at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. She is a teacher of methodology of research in social work. Her research work includes methods and models of evaluation of social protection programmes, vulnerable groups, dementia, working poor, needs assessment and poverty. She has been a member of various groups at the national level in the field of social protection. She has been a member of ICSD since 2004 and a board member of European Branch since 2009. She has participated in various ICSD symposia and European branch conferences. My vision for the ICSD is it should continue to be an inclusive community of diverse groups (experts, professionals, academics, students, other people) who are committed to a decent life for all and sustainable development around the world.
Prof. James Midgley is professor of the graduate school and dean emeritus (1997-2006) of the School of Social Welfare. An authority on international social welfare, Dr. Midgley is regarded as a pioneer in the fields of international social work and social work and social policy in the developing world. He has published widely on the topics of international social work and social welfare policy. Dr. Midgley's current research interests include international social work, social development and social policy.
Prof. Philip Hong is the Dean of the University of Georgia School of Social Work. Hong's research has been supported by more than $4.6 million in funding
from foundations and federal agencies such as the US Department of Health and Human Services. The social work intervention model that he has developed, "Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP)", is a national model for social policies that promote self-sufficiency and family- strengthening. The TIP model is being applied and tested to support communities in the areas of employment and workforce development, health promotion, youth development and empowerment, returning citizen reentry, substance use recovery, and violence prevention. He is the author of more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and other
publications as well as 100 refereed conference presentations. Hong has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Poverty and Public Policy and of the journals Social Work Research, and Families in Society. He also has been an external reviewer for the Office of Policy Support in the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor
- Member of the Board
Ramola Ramtohul is an Associate Professor, teaching Gender Studies and Sociology. She has a PhD in Gender Studies from the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town. She has published widely on women, gender and politics in Mauritius. Her research interests include gender, politics and citizenship in multicultural contexts as well as high net worth migration and citizenship. She has received research fellowships from the University of Cape Town, American Association of University Women, University of Cambridge and University of Pretoria. She is co-editor of Journal of Contemporary African Studies and Island Studies Journal and a member of the editorial board of the journal Small States & Territories. I would like to see the ICSD taking scholarship on the developing world to greater heights, encouraging the participation of African scholars and the integration of a gender component.
Job Titles:
- Distinguished University Professor