2020-2021 Board of Directors
Wayne beckles, ed.d., lcsw
Board Member
Wayne Beckles is a therapist, author, educator, and public speaker. He is a clinical social worker with three decades of practice experience in the field of mental health. His clinical practice includes providing psychotherapy in multiple settings including outpatient mental health settings, group practices, and maximum-security settings where he examined the lasting impact of childhood traumas on adult behavior and developed his model the Soul Warrior Inception Matrix. His most recent book is: The Boys Club: How Childhood Trauma Traps Men into Boy-like Behaviors which focuses on breaking free from the binds of childhood trauma. Currently, Dr. Beckles is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Cecil College and runs a private practice with offices in Oxon Hill and Bel Air, Maryland where he works with individuals and couples.
Dr. Beckles holds a Doctor of Education from Morgan State University; a Master of Arts from the University of Chicago; and a Bachelor of Science from Stony Brook University.
Expertise
- Program development
- Teaching
- Social work education
- Student Academic success
- Building psychological resilience among at risk populations
- Research
Ashley r. blanchard, msw
Board Member
Ashley R. Blanchard is a public policy and research analyst for a children’s advocacy coalition and has been leveraging data to inform practice and facilitating in developmental processes to aid community improvement efforts for over seven years. Ms. Blanchard has a passion for aiding in the eradication of systematic and structural racism and biases, international social work, and is focused on multi-level interventions through community-based participatory research.
Ashley has been published across several mediums on social justice, youth homelessness, and socioeconomic indicators of wellbeing for children and families. She has served as a consultant to institutions on grant writing, health disparities research, and political advocacy in social work in addition to leading presentations around New England on these topics.
Expertise
- Research/ Evaluation
- Grant Writing
- Public Policy
- Child advocacy
lefate makunyane
Board Member
Lefate Makunyane is from Soweto, Johannesburg, South Africa. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from the University of South Africa (VUDEC) and a master’s degree in development studies from the University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. He has worked on programs addressing mental health, substance use prevention, gender-based violence. He has worked on the Kaiser Family Foundation’s loveLife Youth Healthy Behaviour Campaign and UNICEF/Lesotho Government Youth Ministry Program focusing on HIV/AIDS, substance use prevention and life skills.
Makunyane is Director at the African Youth Development Fund consultancy providing services to Gauteng Department of Social Development/Education, UNICEF, UNODC, National Ministry of Basic Education. Makunyane has experience in policy formulation, program design, managing and monitoring development programs.
Expertise
- Policy Formation
- Program Design
- Accounting
- Managing and monitoring NGOs and community-based social projects
emma mehrabi
Board Member
Emma Mehrabi is the Legislative Director for Congresswoman Barbara Lee, who currently chairs the Congressional Social Work Caucus. As her Legislative Director, Emma oversees all legislative and policy planning in the office and handles her Appropriations and Budget Committee work. She has been on the Hill for almost 7 years working on economic, social, and racial justice issues.
Emma holds a bachelor’s degree from Christopher Newport University and a master’s degree in Social Work from Virginia Commonwealth University with a concentration in public policy and nonprofit management.
Expertise
- Community organizing
- Issues-based advocacy
- Policy Formation
karen guevara-ortiz, lmsw
Internship Coordinator
Karen Guevara-Ortiz is a first-generation immigrant born in El Salvador. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from the University of Maryand, College Park and a master’s degree in Social Work from Catholic University of America. Currently, she works as a Licensed Social Worker for Prince George’s County Public Schools, where she designs mental health programs for at risk youth at the only middle and high alternative school in Prince George’s County.
expertise
- Spanish language translation
- Youth-based program development
- Direct practice/counseling
- International social work
Stephanie thomas
Chair
With almost 20 years of professional experience, Stephanie navigated Fortune 500 organizations on Wall Street, a United States Presidential campaign at National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill, and the venerated minority depository institutions of Carver Federal Savings Bank and Industrial Bank. Over the course of her career, Stephanie played a key role in managing strategic relationships with various community stakeholders, nonprofits, municipal partners and elected officials, particularly in support of the community economic development, financial empowerment and inclusion, access to capital for small businesses, and community banking.
Stephanie studied Organizational Management at Mercy College and holds a Certificate in Theology & Ministry from Princeton Theological Seminary.
expertise
- Strategic partnerships
- Community economic development
- Nonprofit and business development
- Finances
carol velandia, mba, pmp, chi, lmsw
Treasurer
Originally from Colombia, where she developed her skills in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Carol Velandia emigrated to Baltimore in 2003 to become a social worker, an interpreter, a teacher, and an entrepreneur. She has integrated her passion for social justice, conflict resolution, and language into the vision and mission of the company she directs: Equal Access Language Services. She serves as adjunct faculty for the Graduate Program in Interpretation and Translation at the University of Maryland College Park, and for the Master Program in Social Work at University of Maryland in Baltimore
Carol previously performed as Assistant Professor in the MBA program at the University of Rajagiri in Kerala, India (2017). She is a licensed Community Interpreter ® trainer, a certified healthcare interpreter, a qualified state and immigration court Interpreter, and a conference Interpreter.
expertise
- Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services
- International social work
- Social work education
- Teaching
- Nonprofit and business development
- Conflict resolution and negotiation
join the board of directors
The board is looking for individuals with unique skills in nonprofit law.