LEGACY BUILDING
IN SOCIAL WORK:

Mildred “Mit” C. Joyner, DPS, MSW, LCSW, is President of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), which has 55 chapters throughout the United States and its territories. Joyner also serves as Vice President of the North America Region of the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW), which includes Canada and the United States and is a member of IFSW’s Executive Committee. She serves on the boards of the NASW Foundation and the NASW Assurance Services, Inc., and is a former board member of the Chester County Food Bank and DNBFIRST, a community bank where she was the first female and only African American to serve in this capacity.

 Her early professional practice experiences included work with at-risk children and families as a child protective services specialist which later advanced to roles of leadership in this specialization. Her community organizing work in food justice focused on educating community stakeholders about the elements of equity and fiscal equality to ignite policy change.

 With later appointments in academia, Professor Joyner continued to promote education around issues of multiculturalism and diversity in social work education and community organization.  She has co-authored three books—Critical Multiculturalism and Intersectionality in a Complex World (2018), Critical Multicultural Social Work (2008), and Caregivers for Persons Living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya: An Ecological Perspective (2011).

 Professor Joyner has received the high honor of being inducted a Social Work Pioneer and has been recognized for her diverse professional experiences and leadership. At her alma mater, she was inducted into Ohio’s Central State University Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Alumni. She also received many other specialized awards, including but not limited to the Gerontology Leadership Award, Living Beyond Breast Cancer Founders Award, and the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Lifetime Service and Leadership Award.

 She has over 30 years of advocacy and service as a social work educator, researcher, community organizer, and social justice advocate.

 She received a BSW from Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio, and her MSW in planning, policy and administration from Howard University, School of Social Work, in Washington, DC. She also received the honorary Doctor  of Public Service degree from West Chester University.