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Professor of Social Work Jayashree Nimmagadda was publicly awarded on June 27 by Adoption Rhode Island’s Center for Advanced Practice for more than a decade of leadership as former interim dean of ΢��Ȧ’s School of Social Work and “for the immeasurable impact she has made on the lives of countless children, youth and families in Rhode Island.”

As former interim dean, Nimmagadda brought innovation to the School of Social Work through numerous grant-funded and interprofessional initiatives and partnerships. Most recently, she secured a grant to establish the Atrévete Center of Excellence for Latinx/Hispanic Social Work Practice at ΢��Ȧ. The center’s goal is to meet the mental health needs of Rhode Island’s Latinx community by adding as many as 55 trained bilingual providers to the state’s behavioral healthcare workforce by the year 2027.

“Her partnerships, her development of new initiatives, her commitment to addressing inequities, her focus on accessibility and her constant willingness to identify new strategies to achieve the best outcomes for students and the clients they serve is genuinely appreciated,” says CEO and Executive Director of Adoption Rhode Island Darlene Allen.

“Here at Adoption Rhode Island, we have enormous respect for Dr. Nimmagadda and her work, and we are especially grateful for our ongoing partnership with her and ΢��Ȧ on the new and improved Adoption and Foster Care certificate course,” she says.

΢��Ȧ also thanks Nimmagadda for more than a decade of dedicated service and for helping ensure that ΢��Ȧ social work students are prepared to meet the growing and changing needs of Rhode Island’s most vulnerable families.