James J. Kelly, PhD, ACSW
President

James J. Kelly, PhD, ACSW (California Chapter), is Provost and Executive Vice President of Menlo College in Atherton, CA.  He is a tenured social work educator, having worked for many years in the California State University system most recently as a professor, Associate Vice President of Continuing and International Education, and Interim Provost at California State University, East Bay. He has garnered $35 million in grants, contracts, endowments, and gifts, primarily through community collaborations in the child welfare and aging areas. Former consultant to the United Nations, he is a strong advocate for social justice. He received his PhD from Brandeis University and his MSSW from the University of Tennessee. He was president, NASW California Chapter, and active in Tennessee, Massachusetts, and Hawaii Chapters. He is immediate past-president, California Institute of Mental Health; board member, National Network for Social Work Managers; and founding editorial board member, Journal of Women and Aging. He was named 1987 National Social Worker of the Year for work in developing services for people with AIDS.

Willie "Bo" Walker, LCSW, DCSW
Vice President

Willie “Bo” Walker, LCSW, DCSW (Tennessee Chapter), is chief operating officer of the Partnership for Families, Children and Adults in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He received his MSSW from the University of Tennessee College of Social Work. Bo has extensive experience in both agency and private practice settings and is a respected social work trainer. Bo’s service and leadership in NASW at the branch and chapter levels span 20 years. Currently president of the Tennessee Chapter, he has been a Delegate Assembly representative, and he participated in the 2005 Social Work Congress. He has been recognized locally, statewide, and nationally for his outstanding contributions to the social work profession. He was the Tennessee Social Worker of the Year in 1992 and received the Ruth Brudney Award from the National Mental Health Association and the Warren Wilson College Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1994. He is actively involved in multiple social, community, and fraternal organizations.

Nelrene R. Yellow Bird, LCSW, LAC
Board Secretary

Nelrene R. Yellow Bird, LCSW, LAC (North Dakota Chapter), is assistant professor, Minot State University Social Work Program, Minot, ND.  Nelrene completed her master’s degree in social work at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.  She is a North Dakota licensed certified social worker and a North Dakota licensed addiction counselor.  She has served as secretary of NASW North Dakota Chapter and as Region X Representative for the NASW National Board of Directors.  She holds current membership in the Indigenous Professors Association, American Indian/Alaska Native Social Work Educator's Association, the North Dakota Human Rights Coalition, and she is an advocate for Native American social issues.

Josefina Ahumada, MSW, LCSW
Treasurer

Josefina Ahumada, MSW, LCSW (Arizona Chapter), a native Californian, received her MSW from UCLA. For 24 years she served in the public sector providing and administering clinical services for clients with serious mental illness. Currently, she is the coordinator of field education at Arizona State University College of Public Programs, School of Social Work–Tucson. She received the ASU Ubiquity Award for Academic Contribution.

She has served NASW—Arizona Chapter as a member of the board, treasurer, president and chair of the Chapter Committee for Nominations and Leadership Identification, and was secretary-treasurer for the NASW National Council of Chapter Presidents. Twice she was a representative to Delegate Assembly. She was recognized as Social Worker of the Year, and in 2001 she received the NASWAZ Lifetime Achievement Award. She is chair of the Coalition of Arizona Behavioral Health Professionals, a group of professional associations that was successful in promoting the passage of state licensure for behavioral health professionals.

Robin Russel, JD, PhD
Region Representative I [ME, MA, NH, RI, VT]

Robin Russel, JD, PhD (Maine Chapter), received a BA from William Smith College, a JD from Temple University, and a PhD from the University of Illinois-Chicago. She pursued a social work education, after practicing law for six years, working with low-income clients in domestic violence and child welfare cases. A social work educator for 20 years, she is currently director of the University of Maine School of Social Work. She has been an active member of NASW for 25 years, serving in many roles in four different state chapters, including chapter president, treasurer, PACE chair, Ethics Committee member, and board member. Nationally, she has been a contributing editor for Social Work, chaired the NASW Legal Defense Fund Board, chaired the Council of Chapter Presidents, and served as national director of the Society for Spirituality and Social Work from 1994 to 2005.

\NASW: Board Member of MA, Education Commission, Executive, Nominating and Fundraising Committees, past 2nd Vice President, Coordinator, New Social Workers Mentor Program, Regional Coordinator, Massachusetts Women in Higher Education, and Member at-large, Randolph Unity Network, Healing Hands For Haiti, Chair, Caribbean American Education Coalition.

Nelly Rojas Schwan, PhD, LCSW, ACSW
Region Representative II [CT, NYC]

Nelly Rojas Schwan, PhD, LCSW, ACSW (Connecticut chapter), is chief Program officer at the Village for Families & Children of Hartford, Connecticut, and is responsible for a range of behavioral health services for children and families.

Nelly holds an MSW, University of Connecticut, and a doctorate in social work, Smith College. She has served children and families of color in urban settings for 30 years. Nelly is especially interested in cultural competence and social justice issues for Latinos, African descent, and lesbian and gay populations.

Patricia Maxon, LMSW
Region Representative III [NYS]

Pat Maxon, LMSW (New York State Chapter), was a long-term care social worker for 25 years before becoming project coordinator at Elder Network of the Capital Region. Maxon is part of a team working to create an “aging prepared community” through collaboration of government, health, and community services with older people.

Ms. Maxon earned a BSW and MSW at the University at Albany, State University at New York, and is a field instructor there.

Ms. Maxon has been a member of Northeast Division’s Steering Committee since 1987. In 2000, she was honored as Division Social Worker of the Year. She has served the New York State chapter as vice president and division representative. She is a member of the chapter Ethics and Bylaws Committees.

Maxon shaped NASW policies as a national delegate to each Assembly since 1993. She was elected to chair the Eastern Region Coalition and represented it on the task force to restructure Delegate Assembly.

Donna Pincavage, MSW, MPA
Region Representative IV [NJ, PA]

Donna Pincavage, MSW, MPA (New Jersey Chapter), is director of the New Jersey Task Force on Child Abuse and Neglect and Children’s Trust Fund. She received her MSW and MPA from Rutgers University and BSW from Kean University.

Ms. Pincavage has been a member of NASW since 1978, she received her ACSW in 1983. In New Jersey, she has served in several NASW leadership positions:
• First Vice President (1994–1995, 1997–1999)
• Treasurer (2001–2003)
• At-Large Board Member (1995–1996)
• Chair of Conference (1992–1996), Personnel (1994–1995), Finance (2001–2003), Children’s (1991–1996) Committees
• Delegate (1993, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2005)
She co-chaired the Eastern Regional Coalition (2002).

She served on the following national boards:
• FRIENDS National Resource Center (2000–present)
• National Alliance of Children’s Trust Funds (1996–2002),
President (1989–2000)
• National Call to Action (2001–2004)
• National Child Sexual Abuse Resource Center (1980’s)

Sister Mary Vincentia Joseph, PhD, LICSW
Region Representative V [DE, DC, International, MD, PR, VI, VA]

Sister Mary Vincentia Joseph, PhD, LICSW (DC Metro Chapter), is professor emerita at National Catholic School of Social Service, Catholic University of America (CUA), where she served as assistant dean and doctoral chair and taught doctoral and masters’ courses in social work practice, ethics, supervision, education, and religion/spirituality in practice. She has conducted research, published, and taught nationally and internationally in South America, Asia, and Europe. She was a visiting scholar at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics. She served on ethics committees and panels of NASW and Catholic Charities USA and received an award for service on the 1997 NASW Code of Ethics Revision Committee. She was named Social Work Educator of the Year and Social Worker of the Year in 2003 by the DC Metro Chapter. Memberships include CSWE, Charities USA, and North American Association of Christian Social Workers. She received her DSW and MSW degrees from CUA.

Christina A. Austin-Valere, MSW
Region Representative VI [AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC]

Christina A. Austin-Valere, MSW (Florida Chapter), is an oncology social worker with Michael & Dianne Bienes Comprehensive Cancer Center, Holy Cross Hospital currently pursuing her doctorate at Barry University, Miami Shores, Florida.  Austin-Valere has represented NASW - Florida as president (2004–2006), and past president (2006–2007), and has been Southeastern Coalition delegate (1999, 2002, and 2005); vice president (1999–2000), and chair for Broward Unit (1996–1999).  She served as secretary/treasurer, Council of Chapter Presidents (2004–2005). She also served as co-chair for the Annual State Conference (1998–1999); treasurer (1996 – 1998); and president (2000 – 2001) for Florida Society of Oncology Social Workers (FSOSW). Memberships include the National Association of Social Workers; Association of Oncology Social Workers; FSOSW; Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of America; and American Cancer Society. Austin-Valere was named Oncology Social Worker of the Year by FSOSW (2001–2002) and by Vitas Innovative Hospice Care (2004–2005).

Lann E. Thompson, EdD, MSSW, MA
Region Representative VII [IN, KY, OH, TN, WV]

Lann E. Thompson, EdD, MSSW, MA (Indiana Chapter), is associate director of the Riley Child Development Center at Riley Hospital for Children on the campus of Indiana University Medical Center, Indianapolis. For 25 years, Thompson, has held an associate faculty position with Indiana University School of Social Work teaching courses and also serving as a field instructor. In addition to an MSSW from University of Wisconsin, Thompson earned an MA and an EdD in counseling psychology from the University of South Dakota. Thompson served a term as vice president for the NASWSD Chapter, and has served as vice president and president for the Indiana Chapter. In addition, Thompson has been a representative six times to Delegate Assembly (1990–2005), and in 1999 he was chair of the Midwest Coalition. Thompson also serves on the boards of the American Indian Center of Indiana and the Indiana Parent Information Network. In 1992, he was awarded the Social Worker of the Year Award for Indiana.

Rosalie A. Migas, MSSW, LCSW
Region Representative VIII [MI, WI]

Rosalie A. Migas, MSSW, LCSW (Wisconsin Chapter), received her BS and MSSW from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Since graduating, she has worked in a variety of social work settings and positions, including nearly a decade as a school social worker, and has held supervisory positions in a variety of nonprofit agencies, including the Children’s Service Society and the Wisconsin Association on Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse.

She has been an NASW member since graduating and has been active in the organization for over a decade. Migas served as co-chair of the Legislative and Social Policy Committee, was elected chair of the South Central Branch, and served as president of the state organization. She has been a volunteer in many organizations throughout her career and presently serves as vice president on the State Board of the Court Appointed Special Advocates program. Currently, she is an adjunct instructor at Edgewood College in Madison.

Mark Smith, MSW
Region Representative IX [IL, IA]

Mark Smith, MSW (Iowa Chapter), is director of special projects at the Substance Abuse Treatment Unit of Central Iowa. He is a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, where he serves as ranking member of the House Human Resources Committee. He holds an MSW from the University of Iowa and a bachelor’s degree in social welfare from Graceland College. He holds the ACSW and Iowa Independent practice credentials. He is a member of the Mental Health Specialty Section of NASW. He was the third recipient of the Barbara Boatwright Political Action Award for his public service. (Barbara Boatwright is a politically active social worker in Iowa.) Mark also serves on the National Conference of State Legislatures Standing Committee on Health and the conference’s subcommittee on addictions. His practice specializes in people with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders.

Becky Fast, LMSW, MPA
Region Representative X [AR, KS, MN, MO, NE, ND, OK, SD]

Becky Fast, LMSW, MPA (Kansas Chapter), is a lifelong Midwesterner, having lived in Minnesota and now currently in Kansas. She is the director of Constituent Services for Congressman Dennis Moore, U.S. House of Representatives. In addition, she is a field practicum instructor and has taught case management and social policy and program analysis for many years.

Fast has been active in NASW since graduating in 1993. She has practiced in medical settings serving older adults and persons with HIV/AIDS. Fast taught political social work skills for Nancy Humphrey’s Institute for Political Social Work and was instrumental in bringing a campaign school to the Midwest. She served as the chairwoman for the Kansas Chapter PACE committee and as the treasurer of the Chapter Board of Directors. Other work includes researching, publishing, and evaluating state programs for the University of Kansas, School of Social Welfare.

Linda M. Mockeridge, MSW
Region Representative XI [AZ, LA, NM, TX]

Linda M. Mockeridge, MSW (Texas Chapter), has been active on the steering committee, branch chair and board member for San Antonio, completing her master’s degree in social work in 1990, and attaining an LCSW in 1993.  She has worked as a clinical social worker in psychiatric hospitals, group homes, community organizations, detention centers and juvenile justice providing individual, group work, and staff development.  Her expertise, in private practice, focuses on adoptions, chemical dependency, mood disorders, supervision, and mitigation for sentencing in criminal cases.  She has been a lecturer and conference presenter on issues in social work, adolescence, chemical dependency, mitigation, and meditation.  She was awarded Social Worker of the Year 2004, and garnered the coveted Lifetime Achievement Award in 2005 in San Antonio.  Currently, she is developing a pilot program in prison studying the effects of meditation on mood and behavior. 

Sharon Y. Otagaki, MSW
Region Representative XII [AK, CO, GU, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, UT, WA, WY]

Sharon Y. Otagaki, MSW (Hawaii Chapter), is a retired social worker formerly employed by the U.S. Department of Education.  She served as assistant director of practicum and as the assistant to the dean at the University of Hawaii School of Social Work.  She received her master’s degree in social work from the University of Hawaii.  Active with the NASW Hawaii Chapter, she has been vice president, a two-term president, delegate to the Delegate Assembly twice, and chair of the Legislative Committee since 2003.  She also served on the National Certification Commission, was an advisory committee member for the state of Hawaii Social Work Licensing Program with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and a board member of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Hawaii.  She was a project director for the CSWE Office of Social Work Education and Research and worked as a technical reviewer for a federal health grant.

Olga Velez Sarabia, MSW, LCSW
Region Representative XIII [CA]

Olga Velez Sarabia, MSW, LCSW (California Chapter), received her MSW from Loyola University of Chicago School of Social Work in 1968, worked in Community Development in East LA for five years, and retired in 2002 from Los Angeles County Department of Health after 30 years of service. Ms. Sarabia was elder care coordinator for the Sisters of Social Service for 18 months after retirement. She has been a part-time instructor in the California State University Los Angeles Department of Social Work since 1998.

Ms. Sarabia is active in local NASW Region I and Image Council. She has held positions of treasurer and professional development representative in her chapter. She is chair of the Housing and Community Development Commission of her city, vice chair of the Eastern Los Angeles Regional Center for developmentally disabled persons, and board member of Pax Christi USA (a national Catholic peace movement) and member of its antiracism team.

Esther Jones Langston, PhD, MSW, ACSW, LCSW
Member-at-Large

Esther Jones Langston, PhD, MSW, ACSW, LCSW (Nevada Chapter), is professor of social work at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) and is director of the Family Support Division. She holds a BA in Business Education and an MSW from San Diego State University; a third year social work certificate and a gerontology certificate from the University of Southern California; and a PhD in Human Service Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Her professional memberships and service include the following: NASW, Nevada Chapter, former president; former secretary, chair, delegate and member, of the Legal Defense Committee; CSWE accreditation site visitor, chair, member, commissions and board member; BPD treasurer and board member; NADD committee member. She is a former director and BSW program coordinator of the School of Social Work, UNLV.

She was Social Worker of the Year: NASW 1994 and Las Vegas NABSW 1980.

Chanda Roberts White, BSW
Member-at-Large

Chanda Roberts White, BSW (Georgia Chapter), graduated from Georgia State University in 1992.  She has worked as a child protective services manager, an eligibility worker, and an error control specialist with the Georgia Department of Family and Children Services.  In her tenure there, she was recognized both as an Employee of the Month and Employee of the Year. Since 2005, she has been a parent facilitator conducting workshops and parenting classes in the DeKalb County School System Office of School Improvement Parent Resource Center.  She currently serves on the membership committee of the NASW Georgia.  In previous years, she was on the chapter’s steering committee, was first chair of the Social Work Alumni Club at Georgia State University, and has volunteered with several organizations supporting children and families.

Diane Belinsky
MSW Student Member

Diane Belinsky (California Chapter) is currently an MSW student at UCLA. She attended Loyola Marymount University (1992–1996) and had a successful business consulting career for 10 years. A natural leader and “big-picture” theorist, she found herself yearning for a career that not only fostered those talents, but also touched her soul. Before pursing her master’s degree, she volunteered in her community providing grief counseling and mentoring. She also volunteered internationally (Kolkata, India, and Nairobi, Kenya) on a personal journey fostering her nature as a humanitarian. For the past three years she has been an associate board member of Los Angeles Team Mentoring (LATM), a nonprofit program committed to serving at-risk youths. She reignited LATM’s Youth Leadership Program after it had terminated because of a loss of funding in the late 1990s. She raised funds and recruited the mentors needed to make it a successful, self-sustaining program three years later.

Christina M. Michels
BSW Student Member

Christina M. Michels (Michigan Chapter), is currently a junior at Central Michigan University in the social work program. Her minor is gerontology. She belongs to the Student Social Work Association of Central Michigan University (CMU) and has volunteered with Women's Aid Service near CMU. She has also been employed for the past two summers as a child care provider at a day care center near her home in Troy. She, along with other social work students from CMU, traveled to Pascagoula, Mississippi, to work on homes that were damaged during Hurricane Katrina. They presented information about the trip to introductory social work classes at the university to make sure Katrina survivors are not forgotten. They are currently organizing another trip to the Gulf Coast.