Faculty

Nitesh Singh is a field faculty member and a Lecturer III at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. Singh’s teaching and scholarship focuses on interventions that address social and political polarization, community-engaged program and policy development, as well as the application of ...

Danny Alvarez (they/them), MSW ‘12, is a passionate facilitator, educator and organizer who has applied social work practices to their work for the last decade. With practices strongly rooted in popular education and intergroup dialogue pedagogy, they have taught, developed and managed programs ...

Gina Ambrogio, MSW '15, is a licensed clinical social worker who completed her undergraduate and graduate education at the University of Michigan. She focuses on interpersonal practice with children and adults, including individual, family and group therapy. In her professional career, she is ...

Rick Barinbaum, LMSW, is a clinical social worker, educator,and practitioner. He teaches at the U-M School of Social Work, co-teaches in the Child Advocacy Law Clinic (CALC) and Human Trafficking Lab at the U-M Law School, and consults across several clinics at the law school. Rick provides both ...

Anthany Beasley, MSW ’15, focuses on individual, group and family practice with LGBTQIA+ youth, adolescents, young adults and families with a specific focus on working with transgender and non-binary individuals. Beasley currently provides trauma-informed therapeutic services from his private ...

Trevor Bechtel, PhD ’08, focuses on questions of ethics and the human in his teaching and scholarship. He works at Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan coordinating all student-facing work. He has taught ethics and religion in small liberal arts colleges throughout the Great Lakes ...

Mercedes Brown (she/her/hers), MSW '08 and JD '13, is an experienced leader with deep expertise in public policy and equitable systems transformation. Throughout her career as a social worker and attorney, Brown has led with her passion for advancing social justice. It is with that commitment ...

Brooke Buys, MSW '13, PhD, focuses on innovative mental health care development, complex family systems and gender-responsive addiction treatment. Buys is the founder and CEO of BLND Health, a mental health care company located in Michigan and Colorado. The BLND team is composed of clinical ...

Priscilla Cortez, MSW '12, works with individuals and groups to develop strengths-based partnerships with the community and to increase personal wellness in everyday practice. Cortez is passionate about working with trauma-focused groups and immigrant youth and families. A Texas native, who ...

Susan Wiant Crabb joined the Office of Field Education as a field educator/lecturer/field liaison on September 1, 2008. Prior to joining the Field Education Office, Susan worked at a large nonprofit agency. As the president/CEO from 2004 to 2008, she was responsible for the budget and financial ...

Colleen E. (Kenna) Crane, MSW'01, has focused her primary practice interests in sexuality, gender identity, trauma and women's issues. Crane spent more than two years working in Detroit as the senior clinician for the Teen Age Parenting Program (TAPP) at The Children's Center, where she worked ...

Julie Cushman is currently a clinical director at Home of New Vision. She also has a private practice doing consulting and program evaluation for community services and agencies.