Staff and Board of Directors

Dr. Goutham Menon earned a master’s degree in social work from the Madras School of Social Work, Chennai, India and his Ph.D. in Social Work from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He received his MBA (Sustainability & Entrepreneurship) from the University of Nevada, Reno. He has served as a faculty at the University of Texas at Arlington; University of South Carolina; University of Texas at San Antonio; University of Nevada at Reno (UNR - Professor & Director); and Loyola University Chicago (LUC - Professor & Dean; Special Assistant to the President – Strategic Plan Implementation). Dr. Goutham Menon is currently serving as CEO of the Network for Social Work Management.

Dr. Menon’s areas of expertise lie in the utilization of information and communication technologies for human services; distance education; leadership; innovation & strategy; and higher education. He has been actively involved in various leadership roles at the Council on Social Work Education, including serving as an elected member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Menon served on the board of the National Association of Deans and Directors (NADD) as Vice-President and Program Chair. He served on the board of International Consortium for Social Development as Vice-President and then as Secretary General during 2008-2018.

Dr. Menon is currently Editor of Best Practices in Mental Health. Dr. Menon was inducted to Alpha Sigma Nu, the Jesuit Honor Society, in 2019. He was also awarded the Jim Billups International Social Development Leadership Award by the International Consortium for Social Development in 2019.

Jennifer Luna, MSSW, serves as the Program Coordinator for the Network for Social Work Managers. She brings over 20 years of experience in presenting and training on career development topics specific to the profession of social work at the local, state, and national level. Her expertise lies in macro social work, professional branding, academic branding and the professional development cycle of social workers. She is also a certified Gallup Strengths Coach and a certified John C. Maxwell Coach, Teacher, Trainer, and Speaker, helping social workers identify and leverage their strengths, skills, and leadership potential.

As the former director of the DiNitto Center for Career Services at University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work, she established and administered the daily operations of the nationally ranked and model program that serves over 800 students and alumni. She continues to collaborates with other schools of social work, NASW, and CSWE on career development issues, including licensure, labor market, and professional identity. She also writes a column for The New Social Worker Magazine, and has published and spoken on topics such as personal branding, academic job search, and resiliency. Jennifer's mission is to uplift the profession of social work one social worker at a time, one organization at a time and one system at a time.

Dr. Gary Bess holds two master’s degrees in social work and applied sociology from Case Western Reserve University and Kent State University, respectively.  He also has a doctorate in social work from the University of Southern California (USC). Gary has taught in graduate schools of social work at the University of California, Los Angeles, USC, and California State University (CSU) in Long Beach and Chico. He has also taught grant writing and program evaluation for graduate students on several campuses.

For several years, Gary directed free medical clinics in southern California, including the South Bay Free Clinic in Manhattan Beach and the Los Angeles Free Clinic. In 1991, he began consulting with public and private health and human services organizations, universities, and nonprofits, moving from southern to northern California when his wife Cindy was offered a professorship at CSU Chico. Over this time he grew GBA from a sole proprietorship to a California-based corporation.  

Gary and GBA have developed specialties in FQHC applications, compliance, needs assessment, and in evaluation for Native American planning and treatment programs.  He has co-authored two articles for the Journal of the National Center for American Indian, Alaska Native Mental Health Research on the life cycle of the evaluation process and on process evaluation among Native American communities.  In 2021, he was the lead author on an article in the Encyclopedia of Social Work on social work leadership, and in 2021, was inducted into the California Social Work Hall of Distinction.

Dr. Marvin (Marv) Southard is the former Director of the largest county – run mental health services organization in the United States, the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health (LACDMH), with a budget approaching $3 billion, serving more than a quarter of a million persons annually that supports innovative co-located services within schools, courts, other County departments, and various community organizations.

In this role at LACDMH, Marv assembled a ground – breaking team that accomplished creative and inclusive work with communities including regional mental health urgent care centers, crisis response teams, children and older adult systems of care, Health Neighborhoods, and partnerships with faith communities to further social justice. Marv has focused his career on empowering healthy urban and rural communities to strengthen recovery from mental health and substance use challenges. He served for a decade as a leader of community behavioral health services in East Los Angeles. Marv also founded substance abuse treatment centers and served as a clinical director and leader of numerous organizations, as well as acting in another county government leadership role as the Kern County Director of Mental Health.

On leaving government service, Marv continued to serve communities, mental health organizations, and governmental entities as a consultant and Professor of Practice at the University of Southern California (USC), where he developed the Professional DSW degree program, mentoring the next generation of community service leaders.

Michàlle Mor Barak is in the vanguard of a new breed of social work and management experts focusing on global workforce diversity. In her award-winning book, Managing Diversity: Toward a Globally Inclusive Workplace (SAGE, 5th edition, 2022), she proposes an original model for creating an "inclusive workplace"– one that helps businesses, as well as public nonprofit organizations, integrate with society via expanding circles of inclusion at the organizational, community, state/national and international levels. The book has won the CHOICE award from the Association of College and University Libraries and the Academy of Management's Terry Book Award for "the most significant contribution to management knowledge."
Her scholarly publications were among the first to introduce the construct of inclusion to the discourse about global diversity management through groundbreaking research. Two measurement scales that Professor Mor Barak and her research team established and validated — the Mor Barak Inclusion-Exclusion Scale (MBIE) and the Diversity Climate Scale — have been widely used in for profit and nonprofit research and in corporate employee surveys and were translated to more than ten languages.

Her current research projects focus on diversity, work-family balance, social support and corporate social responsibility. They examine the impact of organizational culture on job satisfaction, organizational commitment and retention as well as individual well-being, mental health and turnover. Her studies test theoretically based models in both nonprofit and for profit organizations nationally and internationally. Professor Mor Barak's research demonstrates that diversity management and inclusion, when adopted as key business strategies, represent more than just doing the right and moral thing. They also constitute good business. Diversity management is essential if corporations are to adapt to an increasingly diverse workforce, and it gives them a competitive advantage in recruitment, retention, customer relations, marketing and developing a positive corporate image.

An internationally renowned scholar, Professor Mor Barak has led conferences on diversity at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Study and Conference Center in Italy, as well as at the Borchard Foundation's Chateau de la Bretesche in France.

Dr. Leti Cavazos, LCSW-S, is a distinguished leader in the field of social work, renowned for her multifaceted expertise and extensive experience. Serving as the Founder and CEO of the Cannenta Center for Healing and Empowerment, she has played a pivotal role in fostering healing and empowerment within the Hispanic community. Dr. Leti's dedication to social work is further evidenced by her establishment of the Cannenta Foundation, aimed at providing crucial support to vulnerable populations while overcoming financial and language barriers.

With academic credentials including a Master of Social Work from the University of Texas at San Antonio and a Doctor of Social Work with a specialization in Clinical Practice and Leadership from the University of Tennessee, Dr. Leti has honed her skills as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker Supervisor (LCSW-S). Her expertise in trauma therapy is underscored by advanced training and a research study on male victims of domestic violence experiencing homelessness, showcasing her commitment to addressing the unique challenges faced by marginalized communities.

Dr. Leti's significant contributions to the field have garnered widespread recognition, including being named one of Social Work Today's Top 10 Dedicated and Deserving Social Workers in 2020. Moreover, her leadership at the Cannenta Center led to the prestigious 2023 Emerging Business Award from the Greater Dallas Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, affirming the center's exceptional contributions. In 2024, she herself was honored with the Leader in Diversity Award by the Dallas Business Journal, highlighting her steadfast commitment to fostering diversity and inclusion.

Beyond accolades, Dr. Leti's impact is evidenced by her involvement in establishing Texas' first male domestic violence shelter and her innovative approaches to addressing social issues. Her work has been featured in local publications, testament to the profound influence she has had on communities. Dr. Leti Cavazos stands as an exemplary figure in social work, whose unwavering dedication, expertise in trauma therapy, and innovative solutions have positively transformed countless lives and earned her widespread acclaim and respect in the field.

Al Rowlett is the Chief Executive Officer for Turning Point Community Programs, overseeing over fifty programs in ten Northern California counties. He is an ardent advocate and proponent of access and equity in health/mental health care for California's underserved and poorly served. Al is a current Executive Board Member for the California Council of Community Behavioral Health Agencies (CBHA) and the former Board Chair of CBHA and the California Institute of Behavioral Health Solutions. In 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom appointed Al to the Proposition 63 - Mental Health Services Act, Oversight and Accountability Commission (MHSA OAC). Al served as an Assembly Speaker appointee to the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) Independent Citizens Oversight Council (ICOC) as a Patient Advocate from 2013 to 2022.

Al holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ottawa University, a Master of Business Administration in Health Services Management from Golden Gate University, and a Master of Social Work from California State University Sacramento and is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

Joel L. Rubin, MSW, LSW, ACSW, CAE has served as the Executive Director of the 5,000 member Illinois Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) since October of 1999.  He has over 30 years of non-for-profit management and fundraising experience, including extensive work with boards of directors, committees and volunteers, and advocacy around a wide variety of social work, human service and international political issues, as advocating on behalf of social work workforce and licensure issues. In addition to his responsibilities in Illinois, Mr. Rubin, served as Acting Deputy Director of Chapter Operations for the NASW from March 2019 to July 2020.

He received his MSW from Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois of Chicago in 1983 and a B.A in Comparative Politics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1981. He is a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers (ACSW), a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) in the state of Illinois and is also a Certified Association Executive (CAE).

Mr. Rubin is a graduate of the Wexner Heritage Fellowship Leadership Program and a current adjunct professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Social Work. He currently serves on the State of Illinois’ Behavioral Healthcare Workforce Advisory Committee, the board of the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership and is a member of the City of Chicago’s Council on Mental Health Equity.
 
Mr. Rubin lives in Skokie, IL with his wife Tamara. They have three children and two grandchildren.

Daphne C. Watkins, PhD, EMBA, holds multiple appointments at the University of Michigan, such as the Letha A. Chadiha Collegiate Professor of Social Work, University Diversity and Social Transformation Professor, and Faculty Associate at the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Institute for Social Research. For more than 20 years, she has studied behavioral health interventions for historically marginalized groups and mixed methods approaches to research in context. Her previous research has focused on developing evidence-based strategies to improve the physical and mental health of underrepresented groups at the intersection of age, culture, and gender. Dr. Watkins’ expertise includes leadership, management, and organizational development, particularly in the areas of research leadership and the impact of executive coaching on faculty and social impact leaders. Dr. Watkins is the founder and executive director of a nonprofit (KNEWjoy) and has held multiple leadership positions, both domestically and internationally, across several social impact, philanthropic, and academic organizations. Her influence extends beyond the United States, as she has garnered an international reputation in gender and health, mixed methods research, and leadership and management worldwide.

Dr. Watkins serves as the Faculty Lead for the Management and Leadership Pathway at the University of Michigan School of Social Work and as a Faculty Member of the Sanger Research Lab at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. She teaches graduate-level classes in mixed methods research, social impact leadership, and organizational governance. Dr. Watkins' reputation as a thought leader is evidenced by her selection as a recipient of the 2024 Pynn-Silverman Lifetime Achievement Award from the Textbook & Academic Authors Association; the 2024 and 2025 editions of the Top 2% of Scientists Worldwide; the 2019 Thought Leadership Award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; and the 2018 Outstanding Alumni Award from Texas A&M University College of Education and Human Development. Her unique ability to bridge academic rigor with practical leadership solutions has established her as a sought-after advisor for organizations seeking evidence-based approaches to equity initiatives, social impact, and leadership development. Dr. Watkins holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, and an Executive MBA from the Quantic School of Business and Technology. She is a certified executive coach and has a Distinguished Leader Executive Certificate from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.