Previous Education
MSW, University of Maryland, Baltimore School of Social Work
BA, Psychology, Fairmont State College
A.A.S., Criminal Justice, Fairmont State College
Research Interests
Social Work Education
Forced migration, immigration, immigrant rights
Decolonization of social work education
Indigenous practices and epistemologies
Disparities within systems/structures
Transformative justice
Child welfare prevention/alternatives
Prior to entering the PhD Program at the University of Maryland, Amy worked extensively in child welfare education and workforce development in West Virginia. In collaboration with the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources (WVDHHR), she trained Child Protective Services and youth services workers and coordinated training for prospective foster and adoptive parents across a 15-county region.
In 2020, Amy joined Shepherd University as an Assistant Professor of Social Work, where she also served as Director of the Title IV-E Child Welfare Training Program while completing her doctoral coursework. Her academic work expanded her longstanding interests in experiential learning and international social work. As a professor, she led study abroad programs in Guatemala, Cuba, and Mexico and was awarded a Fulbright to Nicaragua.
In 2023, Amy joined the U.S. Department of State as a Foreign Service Officer, taking her and her family first to the Dominican Republic and later to Guatemala, where she currently serves. Her Foreign Service experience has added diplomacy, cross-cultural communication, international public service, and work with diverse populations to a career already grounded in social work practice, education, and professional development.
Across these roles, Amy’s work has been shaped by an interest in how people, institutions, and communities navigate differences in culture, power, and opportunity. Her experience working with immigrant communities in the United States, combined with years of living and working internationally, has deepened her interest in global social dynamics and inequities and in how social work, education, and public institutions can respond effectively and responsibly across cultural and national contexts.
Teaching Interests
diversity, power, and structural inequality, research, Human Behavior in the Social Environment, education abroad, introductory interview methods