The School of Social Work Welcomes Katie Edwards

Professor Katie Edwards focuses her research on preventing and responding to sexual and related forms of violence among structural minoritized populations using community-based participatory methods. Her current work is focused on program development and evaluation with Indigenous youth and communities as well as LGBTQ+ youth in online spaces. She helped establish the first Indigenous-led sexual violence prevention center, entitled Peaceful Means, on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. Edwards’ other projects include:

• Family Accepted Project Online (FAPO)
• IDEA3 ( Internet-Delivered Enhanced Assess, Acknowledge, Act)
• Project LIVE (Love, Inclusivity, Values, Education)
• Promoting Resilient Youth with Strong Hearts and Minds (PRYSHM) Project
• Strong, Thriving and Resilient Men (STAR-M)
• Teen Connection Project (TCP)
• The Takini (Survivor) Project
• Wahwala Iyohlogya (Peaceful Means)
• Tiwahe Tewichaglapi (Lakota Family Acceptance Project)
• Supporting Survivors & Self—Indigenized (SSS-I; Miye na Wicakiya Oyate Wi Okiciyapi Kta) 

“I am deeply grateful to be at the University of Michigan School of Social Work. What excites me most is that the School really walks in their DEI values. I remember when I interviewed here being struck by how much room there was for positionality and emotionality, and how intellectually stimulated and motivated I felt — those collective experiences made me confident that U of M was where I should be alongside my teams,” said Edwards. “I believe that with these values and the strong infrastructure will allow my teams and me to dream bigger and make more impactful change than we could at any other university in the world. I, along with my team of over 50 amazing staff and co-leaders, couldn’t be more excited, proud, and joyful to be here.”

Edwards joins the School from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where she has served as Professor of Educational Psychology. She received her MS and PhD in Clinical Psychology from Ohio University, Athens.