About the Officers

President

Michelle has spent more than 20 years working as a social worker in the health care field with a focus on older adults, hospice, palliative care, and oncology. Upon receiving her MSW from Marywood University, Michelle became drawn to teaching and working with students to prepare them for rich careers in social work. Her strong connection to social work values and ethics inform both her practice and her teaching.

She utilizes a variety of teaching strategies to engage the adult learner in the classroom and field setting. Her commitment to the social work profession has led to her interest in working with students in the field education setting. Michelle began as Assistant Director of Field Education for the online MSW program at Widener University and is now the Director of Field Education. This position allows her the privilege of introducing social work students throughout the country to the field. She can be contacted at mtbrandt@widener.edu.

Vice President

Margie is the Assistant Director of Field Education at the University at Buffalo School of Social Work. She has worked at UB since 2009, first as a Field Coordinator and then promoted to Assistant Director in 2017. Margie oversees the Online MSW Field Program and continues to assist with the overall MSW Field Program. Prior to working in higher education, Margie worked at a community-based agency on the City of Buffalo for 18 years. She provided individual and family counseling, crisis intervention, anti-poverty programming, and preventive services. Margie was promoted to supervisor at the agency and managed multiple offices and programs. She also worked for 2 years as a Child Welfare Training Specialist and trained child welfare workers across New York State. Margie received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from Binghamton University and her MSW from the University at Buffalo and has her LCSW-R. She can be reached at quartley@buffalo.edu

Secretary

Jackie is a Field Coordinator with the Indiana University School of Social Work MSW Direct Program. She earned her MSW degree from the IU School of Social Work in 2001. Jackie has a diverse social work background that includes working with children and families, not-for-profit organizations, philanthropy, community planning, leadership, education, and training. The focus of her professional experience and academic work includes child welfare, positive youth development, leadership training, and education.

Beginning in 2004, Jackie led a large scale community research and planning process focused on the challenges of foster youth that age out of the child welfare system. Most recently, Jackie has acted as Field Coordinator with the MSW Direct online program. She can be contacted at jvotapek@iupui.edu.

Treasurer

Elizabeth Hayward, MSW, is the Arizona State University School of Social Work Field Education Data Analyst. She works with technology and resources, including the internship database, to support and improve Field Education for students, field instructors, faculty and the community. A true Sun Devil, she received her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Masters in Social Work from ASU. Prior to joining the Field Team in 2016, she had eighteen years direct social work practice experience in multiple roles including Crisis Counselor, School Social Worker and Hotline Supervisor. When she’s not at work, you can find her running the streets and desert trails training for another epic adventure. She contacted at Elizabeth.Hayward@asu.edu.

Technology Chair

Lynetta is the Director of Field Education at the University of Louisville. She began as Director of the BSW Field Education in 2007 and coordinated the merging of the BSW and MSSW Field Education programs in 2015. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Louisville, Lynetta worked 13 years as a medical social worker in South Florida and the Metro Louisville area, and 3 years as a therapeutic foster care and adoption social worker. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Centre College, Danville, KY and earned her MSW from Florida International University. She is currently a doctoral candidate at the University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, MN. Lynetta also is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Indiana. She can reached at lynetta.mathis@louisville.edu.