The NASW Foundation has announced six new members of its board of directors, in addition to NASW’s new president-elect, who holds a seat on the Foundation Board.

The Foundation bylaws state that members include three social workers and three non-social workers.

The three social work members are:

• Elvira Craig de Silva, a former NASW president and Foundation Board member as well as a Social Work Pioneer®. She is the associate dean of the Communication Skills, Social Sciences and Foreign Languages Department at Waukesha County Technical College in Pewaukee, Wis. Her term expires in 2013.
• Social Work Pioneer® Bernice Harper, who will serve on the board through 2012. As a medical care adviser to the former Health Care Financing Administration (now the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) in Washington, Harper’s career has focused on health care and health care policy at the federal level.
• Rick Harris, executive director of the NASW Rhode Island Chapter. His term expires in 2013.

The non-social worker members are:

• Gloria Ramsey, associate professor at the Graduate School of Nursing at the Uniformed Services University. Her term will last through 2013.
• Lorraine Cole, former chief executive officer of the YWCA USA, the nation’s oldest and largest women’s organization. She previously served as president and CEO of the Black Women’s Health Imperative. Her term expires in 2013.
• Connie Commander, president and CEO of Commander’s Premier Consulting Corp. She is a former president of the Case Management Society of America. Her term will expire in 2012.

As outlined in the Foundation bylaws, the NASW executive director serves as president of the Foundation Board; the NASW president and president-elect serve on the board during their terms as well.

NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark was the executive director of New York State Chapter for two years before assuming the national post in June 2001.

NASW President James J. Kelly is provost and executive vice president of Menlo College in Atherton, Calif. He is a former president of the NASW California Chapter. His term runs through June 2011.

NASW President-Elect Jeane Anastas is a past president of the Massachusetts Chapter and is a professor at New York University’s Silver School of Social Work. Her term lasts through 2014.

In other NASW Foundation news, Foundation Director Robert Carter Arnold recently announced the recipients of the 2010-11 Foundation scholarships and fellowships.

“Thanks to the generous donations from NASW members and others, we are delighted to once again be able to help support these social work students in their education,” Arnold said.

The Consuelo W. Gosnell Memorial Scholarships are awarded for one academic year to students who have demonstrated a commitment to working with American Indian, Alaskan native or Hispanic and Latino populations. The recipients also plan to work with public or voluntary nonprofit agencies or local grassroots organizations and all represent MSW candidates. Each student will receive $2,500.

The students, their hometowns and their universities are:

• Michelle Caitow from Bethesda, Md. (University of Maryland)
• Jennifer Saw Corado from West Covina, Calif. (University of Southern California School of Social Work)
• Alexis Diaz of Jersey City, N.J. (Columbia University)
• Ashley Hammonds of Lumberton, N.C. (Boston College)
• Megan Hope of Denver (University of Denver)
• Monica Polanco of West Hartford, Conn. (New York University)
• Fatima Reyes from Hayward, Calif. (University of Southern California)
• Amiramia Rodriguez from Friendswood, Texas (University of Houston Graduate School of Social Work)

In addition, the NASW Foundation announced the following fellowship award recipients. Each person will receive $2,000.

• The Jane B. Aron Doctorial Fellowship was awarded to Sherma Janel Charlemagne of Riverside, Calif. Charlemagne, a student at Loma Linda University in California, will examine whether mental health outcomes for children and adolescents in psychiatric hospitals vary by clinician based on family involvement in inpatient planning, visitation and discharge planning for children and adolescents with emotional and behavioral disorders.
• The Ellen Blackey Doctoral Fellowship was awarded to Jennifer M. Courtney of Delmar, N.Y. The title of Courtney’s fellowship study is “The Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Family Workshop: A Pilot Study of Preliminary Outcomes and Effect Sizes of an Attachment-Based Intervention for Family Members of Veterans with Combat-Related PTSD.” Courtney is a student at the University of Albany.
• The Verne LaMarr Lyons Memorial MSW Scholarship was given to Jacquelyn V. Coats from Ann Arbor, Mich. Coats, a student at Washington University in St. Louis, said she aspires to work on behalf of vulnerable populations in society and give a voice to groups that have been silenced. She said she is dedicated to working in the African-American community to address health disparities.