(JOY) (dee-ANN) (CHAD-wik). she/her. @joiultra

“The South got something to say.” -André Benjamin

Born and raised in the subtropical Deep South on the unceded and occupied land of the Osage, Caddo, and Quapaw people (aka North Louisiana) to Deep Southerners of Deep Southerners and so on. I love the actual land, the food, the music, the arts, the people.

I earned a BA in sociology with a minor in music (instrumental) from Louisiana Tech University and an MA in communication and leadership from Gonzaga University. Now I have our master’s in social work (with a focus in community practice for social change) from the top 10 social work program at Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. I live in 1 of the 40 (out of 64) rural parishes in a state where 51% of households don’t make enough money, and I believe collective power can change our condition.

I have analyzed and developed policy, walked with clients through phases of engagement from assessment through termination, facilitated group therapies, conducted community assessments and gap analyses, co-designed a community organizing campaign plan, co-authored a grant proposal (including drafting the financial analysis, logic model, and measurement plan), and used multiple methods to design and/or implement practice and program evaluations.

My practice now and in the future seeks to incorporate a blend of social science and arts to walk in solidarity with all future-liberated people and help create clear pathways – particularly among exploited people in rural areas and the South – so people get the resources they need to live, thrive, and reclaim humanity. I look do this via:

• Participatory and restorative methods to empower people who structures have excluded and placed at risk
• Agency advocacy addressing program and intervention efficacy, accessibility, and accountability
• Policy advocacy including organizing networks, building coalitions, legislative monitoring, public testimony, and alerting constituents and advocates