Sheila Blanton, M.Ed.
Director
Georgia State University, School of Social Work
Sheila Blanton, M.Ed., is the Project Director for the Professional Excellence Program, Georgia State University, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, School of Social Work. Sheila has over forty years of experience in the child welfare field, including classroom teaching, case management, adoptions, instructional design, and program management. She oversees several programs, including Professional Development and Training, the Child Welfare Training Collaborative, and the Training for Adoption Competency (TAC) Program. Sheila has written curriculum on an extensive list of topics including Managing Change, Implementation Science, Adoption, Building Resiliency in Children Who Experienced Trauma, Developing Collaborations, new worker training, and many others. Sheila received the Distinguished Service in Training Award from NSDTA in 2015.
Charmaine Brittain, MSW, Ph.D.
Director
Butler Institute for Families, University of Denver
Charmaine Brittain, MSW, Ph.D., Director, Practice Innovation has worked extensively over the past three decades throughout the United States to improve training, organizational effectiveness, and implementation and to strengthen professional development for human service professionals. At the Butler Institute for Families, she serves as the lead on multiple projects, including consulting with child welfare agencies on organizational and workforce development, managing training projects on a range of topics and approaches, overseeing practice improvement projects, and developing professional educational materials. Dr. Brittain serves as Vice Chair for NSDTA and leads the engagement committee. She’s been participating in NSDTA for over twenty-five years.
Susan Brooks, MSW
Director
UC Davis Continuing and Professional Education
Biography to come. Check back soon!
Deirdre Carmichael, Ph.D
Deputy Director
Professional Excellence Program, Georgia State University School of Social Work
Deidre Carmichael, MSW, Ph.D, is the Associate Project Director for the Professional Excellence Program, Georgia State University, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, School of Social Work. Deidre provides management support for training and development programs for child and family serving professionals. Deidre also coordinates evaluation efforts and provides training and consultation to the child welfare agency’s Continuous Quality Improvement program. Deidre has over 17 years of experience in training and development and holds a Ph.D. in Adult Education with an emphasis in Human Resource and Organization Development. Deidre’s research interests include learning transfer, performance improvement, and individual and organizational change.
Tracy Davis
Director
CT Department of Children and Families - MR
Tracy Davis has over twenty-five years of experience working in Child Protection. She has served in a myriad of roles ranging from a social worker, supervisor, trainer, and manager. Tracy is currently the Director of the Connecticut Department of Children and Families- Academy for Workforce Development. The later part of her career has focused on curriculum development with a child welfare lens, training design, implementation, and delivery. She has leadership experience in workforce development, coordination of large-scale agency training initiatives, and current knowledge of best practices regarding child welfare services. In July 2019, Tracy was elected to serve on the Executive Advisory Board of NSDTA.
Chad McDonald, LCSW, Ph.D Candidate
Research Assistant Professor
The University of Utah
Chad McDonald, Ph.D. Candidate, LCSW, is a Research Assistant Professor, Principal Investigator of the Child Welfare Training/Education Grants at the University of Utah, focusing his research on workforce development in child welfare, particularly around skills development, using enhanced teaching/learning methods, and competency assessment. Chad chairs the Child Welfare Concentration and is a member of the steering committee for the National Human Services Training Evaluation Symposium. Chad has sixteen years of experience in child welfare, including his time as trainer and administrator for the Division of Child & Family Services (DCFS) in Utah.
Lawrence Mirabal
Manager
New Mexico Human Services Department
Lawrence Mirabal represents the New Mexico Human Services Department serving as a Staff Manager specializing Leadership Development. Lawrence brings over 30 years in experience in organizational leadership, development, and training in the public and private sector. He credits his success to his holistic leadership approach to inspire and motivate high performing teams to realize personal and professional fulfillment.
Cynthia “Cindy” Parry, Ph.D.
Evaluation Consultant
C.F. Parry Associates
Cynthia Parry, Ph.D., has thirty years of experience evaluating human services at state and national levels. Dr. Parry is currently an evaluator for the Quality Improvement Center for Workforce Development (QIC-WD), specializing in testing and measurement. She has led training evaluation efforts in multiple states. She serves on the Executive Advisory Council for the National Staff Development and Training Association and the steering committee for the National Human Services Training Evaluation Symposium.
Marlo A. Perry, Ph.D.
Research Assistant Professor
University of Pittsburgh
Marlo A. Perry, Ph.D., is an Assistant Research Professor in the Child Welfare Education and Research Programs at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work. Marlo leads evaluations of multiple statewide projects with Pennsylvania’s child welfare system. To date, this has included enhancing the rigor of the evaluation of Pennsylvania’s core caseworker and new supervisor curricula; evaluating processes and outcomes of a Title IV-E Waiver Demonstration Project; and assessing mechanisms of transfer of learning to the field. Her research interests also include family engagement in child welfare and emotional intelligence and well-being in child welfare caseworkers.
Terrance Stroud
Deputy Commissioner
NYC Department of Social Services
Terrance Stroud is the Deputy Commissioner for New York City’s Department of Social Services overseeing the Office of Training & Workforce Development. Terrance has been honored for his work and his contributions to the community with distinctions such as Home Reporter News’ “Star of Brooklyn", City & State “Top 40 Under 40” and a Black Enterprise Modern Man. Terrance serves on the alumni and advisory boards of Brooklyn Technical High School, Brooklyn College & Indiana Maurer School of Law and is an Adjunct Professor of Law overseeing Maurer’s NY Externship Program. Terrance was appointed to the NY State Staff Development Advisory Committee in 2019 and joined NSDTA in 2019.