Dr. Danielle Giroux

Dr. Danielle Giroux serves as the MSW Program Chair and an Associate Professor of Social Work at Hawai‘i Pacific University (HPU). She holds an MSW from HPU, and a PhD in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of Alaska Anchorage. With a strong academic and professional background, Dr. Giroux has worked in diverse settings, including suicide prevention for the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) and providing rural Alaskan communities with clinical services through Norton Sound Behavioral Health. In 2019 Dr. Giroux moved back to Hawai’i to accept her current position with HPU. She is also a licensed clinical social worker (LCSW) in Hawai‘i, with a private that provides program evaluation and clinical services grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

Dr. Giroux is involved in research on sex trafficking in Hawai‘i, primarily collaborating with Ho‘ola Na Pua, an organization dedicated to supporting victims of commercial sexual exploitation. Her current project, funded by the Pacific Innovations, Knowledge, and Opportunities (PIKO) grant, evaluates the Coconut Wireless Curriculum, a therapeutic program designed to improve the well-being, resilience, and self-esteem of trafficked youth. Dr. Giroux’s work focuses on providing critical insights and feedback from survivors to enhance the program, with a broader goal of addressing sex trafficking in Hawai‘i through research and research-driven interventions.