KU Faculty Member Elected to Board of Directors for National Association of Social Workers

Graphic of Sharma.

KUTZTOWN, Pa. – Dr. Yasoda Sharma, professor of Social Work, has been elected to serve on the board of directors for the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) (Region IV), the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world. This organization works to enhance the professional growth of its members while maintaining high standards to advance social policies that improve the lives of individuals, families, organizations and communities around the globe.

Sharma is a tenured professor at KU and earned her Ph.D. in social work from the University of Texas, a master's degree in social work with a specialization in psychiatry and social medicine and an undergraduate degree in psychology from India. Sharma has worked in various national and international organizations worldwide, including parts of India and Nepal. Her social work career has and continues to involve engaging with the local and global communities, particularly in domestic violence, HIV/AIDS, international social work and human trafficking. She is a locally, nationally and internationally recognized scholar and her work has led her to publish several articles in prestigious academic journals. She has also presented her work at local, national and international conferences and implemented research projects related to domestic violence. She previously served as an external research examiner for post-doctoral candidates in India. Sharma has overseen several DSW dissertations, serves on several DSW dissertation committees and is an editorial board member of a refereed journal.

Sharma serves as a board officer for the Domestic Violence Center for Chester County, chairing the Strategic Planning Committee and helping this organization's reaccreditation with the Pennsylvania Association of Non-Profit Organizations. She previously volunteered to serve on NASW-PA Conference Planning Committee and later served as the chair of the committee.

Sharma is highly involved at KU as she serves as a board member and the KU representative for the PASSHE Women's Consortium. She is also chair of the KU Commission on the Status of Women, and under her leadership, the committee implemented the Elderly Care Workshop and revived Take Your Child to Work Day program. In addition to these roles, she also serves as treasurer of the KU-APSCUF International Faculty Caucus and was appointed to a committee to aid in developing a strategic plan to incorporate and bring greater awareness to the diversity, equity and inclusion initiative across the KU campus community.

"My inspiration for serving on the national board of directors came from my desire to work toward the mission of NASW and for the betterment of the social work profession," Sharma said.

As a Board of Director member of the NASW Region IV, Sharma will represent the association in the community and maintain relationships with other pivotal organizations. She will also aid in deciding on policy and priorities, policy implementation and the equitable allocation of financial resources under the broad policy and priority guidelines established by the association's membership in the Delegate Assembly meetings.

For more information, please visit https://www.socialworkers.org/about/governance/board-of-directors/board-members/region-representative-IV.