March 7, 2022

Two University of Washington School of Social Work faculty – Assistant Teaching Professor Khalfani Mwamba and Lecturer Jenn Ozawa – are the 2022 recipients of the Roffman Term Faculty Fellowships for Antiracism.

The award enables faculty to expand the School of Social Work’s longstanding commitment to end systemic racism, while advancing its dedication to education, research and service.

The fellowships are supported in partnership between the School of Social Work and a gift from Professor Emeritus Roger Roffman. The awards provide support that allows these scholars to carry out professional activities to strengthen their knowledge and understanding of racism and social justice.

Khalfani Mwamba is an assistant teaching professor who works on the intersection of social and criminal justice. During his fellowship term, his project revolves around healing and ending the trauma and suffering disproportionately inflicted by the criminal justice and prison system on families and communities of color. His goal is to make this a major focus in social work. Mwamba received his MSW in 2009 from the UW School of Social Work and has been on the faculty since 2016.

Jenn Ozawa, a part-time lecturer, is interested in how decisions made by funders have consequences, intended or unintended, that create and exacerbate institutional racism through the unequal distribution of resources. Her fellowship award will examine racist and anti-racist efforts within philanthropy, especially around procurement and funding decisions. Ozawa received her MSW in 2014 from UW School of Social Work and has been a part-time lecturer since 2016.

Both faculty members anticipate reporting on their research and findings to advance antiracism and social justice after their fellowship terms end in late 2022.