School of Social Work News

Clinical Assistant Professor Ayesha Ghazi Edwin spoke with CBS Detroit about a new “right to sit” ordinance she introduced in her role as Ann Arbor City Council Member. MSW student Jessica Riley’s participation in the public comments is included as part of the story. The ordinance was approved in October.

Additional media coverage:

• MLive

Clinical Associate Professor Ayesha Ghazi Edwin was featured in a PBS News story on the importance of voting to new U.S. citizens. Ghazi Edwin was born in England; her family came to the U.S. when she was three. Her mother says that the day their family received their U.S. citizenship was one of the happiest days of her life.

“People always say representation is important, and I have too. But I didn’t actually realize the truth of the statement until today,” Ghazi Edwin said. “Having an Asian American in the highest level of office does feel like empowerment and protection, because right now we’re playing a system and a game that has been run by people who don’t look like me.”

Congratulations to ENGAGE Program Manager and Lecturer Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, MSW ‘10, who has been elected to Ann Arbor City Council Ward 3. “As an alum, staff member and adjunct faculty, I’m incredibly proud to bring social work values of equity and social justice to city governance!”

“Ann Arbor and the university welcomed us with open arms, and we fell in love with this diverse, inclusive community.” Lecturer and ENGAGE: DETROIT Program Manager Ayesha Ghazi Edwin’s family history is chronicled in a story on U-M’s Center for South Asian Studies website. The story describes how the progressive values of their grandparents have shaped Ghazi Edwin, who is also an Ann Arbor Council member, and her sister, Dr. Natasha Bagdasarian, who is Michigan’s Chief Medical Executive.

Lecturer Ayesha Ghazi Edwin’s letter to the editor “Race and ethnicity shouldn’t determine women’s pay” was published in the Detroit News. Edwin discusses Asian American/Pacific Islander women’s Equal Pay Day writing “If we are to close the pay gap, we need to strengthen equal pay laws to allow women to discover and fight against pay discrimination.”

ENGAGE Program Director and Lecturer Ayesha Ghazi-Edwin received a Certificate of Appreciation from the James T. Neubacher Awards Committee, a unit of the U-M Council for Disability Concerns. The certificate is in acknowledgment of her efforts to advance the cause of accessibility and justice for the disability community.  In addition to her work at the school, Ghazi-Edwin is also the Fund Development and Research Specialist at Detroit Disability Power, a disability justice nonprofit organization in Detroit.  She also serves on the Michigan Social Work's Inclusion and Access Taskforce. 

Established by the university’s Council for Disability Concerns in October 1990, the award is a memorial to James T. Neubacher, a university alumnus and columnist for the Detroit Free Press who advocated for equal rights and opportunities for people with disabilities.

LEO Lecturer Ayesha Ghazi Edwin has been appointed by Governor Gretchen Whitmer to serve on the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission. The commission’s vision is to fully engage Asian and Pacific Americans in Michigan.