Suzanne Pritzker

Suzanne Pritzker, PhD, MSW, M.Ed. is an associate professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work (GCSW). She began her professional career as a policy advisor for the Virginia Secretary of Education and as an analyst for the Virginia General Assembly. She researches strategies to increase youth civic engagement, including her current federally-funded project studying civic engagement among Latinx teenagers. She also extensively studies how social workers are prepared for, and engage in, political action. She recently completed an appointment as the Coalition for Policy Education & Practice in Social Work’s Coalition Scholar, conducting a national study of the state of policy education in social work. Dr. Pritzker is the author of over 35 articles, book chapters, and reports focused on civic engagement, public policy, and macro practice. She is co-author of Political Social Work: Using Power to Create Social Change. She teaches graduate-level courses in policy analysis and policy advocacy and coordinates the GCSW’s Political Social Work specialization. She directs multiple political internship programs, including the GCSW’s Austin Legislative Internship Program, placing MSW students as full-time interns during the Texas Legislature’s biennial sessions. She serves on the national board of Influencing Social Policy and on the Council on Social Work Education’s Council on Practice Methods and Specializations. She has received awards for her teaching, mentorship, and involvement in promoting civic engagement from the Graduate College of Social Work, Social Work Today magazine, and the Houston Area League of Women Voters.