February 22, 2024
Congratulations to our three outstanding CRSP students who have been awarded Year of Discourse and Dialogue grants!
Learn more about the awardees and their grants:
Sommer C. Blair, LSW, LMSW, is a doctoral student in the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work mentored by Dr. James Huguley and working with his Parenting While Black Project
About Sommer's Project: The "Parenting for Racial Equity project" aims to convene and impact a diverse body of university members across racial, positional, generational, and familial lines to deliberate on what it means to parent for racial justice in white families and in communities of color.
This project is led by the Race and Youth Development Research (RaYDR) team from the Center on Race and Social Problems. Sommer is the PI and will be working closely with the other project leads whose work the Parenting for Racial Equity project (PREP) is based on – Ron Idoko (Racial Equity Consciousness Institute, RECI) and James Huguley, (Parenting While Black, PWB).
Cruzilious Contreras-Amezcua, BSW, is an Advanced Standing MSW student at the University of Pittsburgh and Outreach and Engagement Assistant at CRSP
About Cruzilious' Project: The "Leading Social Work Students to LEAD - Legislative Education and Advocacy Day" initiative seeks to provide social work students an opportunity to attend one of the biggest social work policy-facing events of the year in the state of Pennsylvania, Legislative Education and Advocacy Day. This project aims to tackle the barriers of cost to allow social work students, especially those interested in policy work, to attend a conference they can not only benefit from through policy education but also through practicing their advocacy skills that align with the NASW Code of Ethics.
This project will be led by Cruzilious Contreras-Amezcua. Supervisors of this grant are Dr. Aliya Durham and Ron Idoko.
Daniel Abusuampeh, MSW, MPA, is a doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work and Research & Development Assistant at CRSP. Daniel is also the founder of the African Tribe Bridge Institute which was also awarded a Year of Discourse and Dialogue grant earlier this year!
About Daniel's Project: The "Space for Voice, Race, and Social Problems Discourse" program is a fundamental attempt that aims to enhance the campus community through meaningful discourse and progressive interaction, particularly in light of the University of Pittsburgh's Year of Discourse and Dialogue opportunity. This program plans to provide an accepting environment where students from all backgrounds may converse about racial and societal concerns, promoting understanding, cooperation, and practical solutions.
The program will be hosted by the Center on Race and Social Problems and the African Tribe Bridge Institute (ATBI).