Keynote speakers
Prof Kwaku Osei-Hwedie
Accra, Ghana
Kwaku Osei-Hwedie is a Professor of Governance and Leadership, and Dean of Faculty of Academic Affairs and Research, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, Accra, Ghana. Before then, he was the Dean of the School of Governance and Leadership, Ghana Institute of Management and Public and Administration. From 1991 – 1993, he was Professor and Head of the Department of Social Work, University of Botswana. He was Senior Lecturer and Head of the Department of Social Development, University of Zambia, from 1987 – 1991.
Kwaku received his BA, Summa Cum Laude with highest honors in Sociology and Ph. D in Social Welfare from Brandeis University, USA; and Post Graduate Diploma in International Law from the University of Zambia. He has taught at Brandeis University, USA; Virginia State University, USA; and St. Paul’s College, USA.
Kwaku has several publications, including 63 refereed Journal articles, 36 books and monographs, and 57 book chapters.
Prof Vimla Nadkarni
India
Professor Vimla V. Nadkarni is Immediate Past President of IASSW having served as President from 2012 to 2016. After heading the department of medical and psychiatric social work at Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) for 20 years, she was founder Dean of the School of Social Work in 2006. She also worked as the Secretary General of the Family Planning Association of India in 2001-2002. After attaining her M.A. degree in Social Work in 1971, she worked for 5 years as a medical social worker in a public hospital, after which she lectured at the College of Social Work, Nirmala Niketan (University of Mumbai) for 8 years.
Vimla’s publications address NGOs, Urban Health and the Poor, and articles on right to health, poverty and human need, HIV/AIDS, and human rights perspectives in social work. She has guest edited the first special issue on “Social Work Education in Asia: New Horizons” of the Social Work Education. She has also published more than 40 articles in national and international journals and books and led at least 20 research projects as principal investigator for national and international organisations.
Vimla is member of several editorial boards of international journals and of the Indian Journal of Medical Research. She has initiated field action projects on urban and rural health; community based drug demand reduction; and HIV/AIDS counselling. She has worked in partnership with the National AIDS Control Organisation to develop the Regional HIV/AIDS Counselling Programme and conducted “HIV Sensitive Social Protection: A Four State Utilization Study” sponsored by UNDP. She is co-editor of a UNAIDS/IASSW book on “Social Work and HIV: A Global Response” and is working on two books on “Field Instruction in Social Work Education” and “International Community Work, Environment and Sustainable Development”.
Dr Amohia Boulton
New Zealand
My career to date has been varied, spanning public policy and academia, however throughout my various “jobs”, my commitment to Māori development has been a constant thread. My background is in policy, having worked as a data analyst (Ministry of Education) policy analyst, senior analyst (Te Puni Kōkiri) and Private Secretary (Māori Affairs) in Wellington for about ten years. I then “switched gears,” leaving the public service to undertake an HRC Māori Health Training Fellowship. The fellowship allowed me to pursue my doctoral studies at Te Pūmanawa Hauora, the Research Centre for Māori Health and Development, Massey University, Palmerston North. On completion of my PhD, I received an HRC Erihapeti Rehu Murchie Postdoctoral award, which took me to the University of Northern British Columbia, Canada for a time where I was privileged to work with, and learn from, the Lheidli T'enneh First Nations people. Shortly after completing my post-doctoral study I joined Whakauae Research Services as the Associate Director and have, over the last eight years, helped build the centre to its current status as a well-recognised iwi owned research centre. I was appointed Director of Whakauae in 2016 and my focus is now on leading the next decade of development for Whakauae.
My research interests are in the fields of Māori health and health services research. I am particularly interested in mental health services (my PhD investigated the contracting experiences of community-based Māori mental health providers), whānau ora, health governance, health reform, and the interface between health policy and service-level implementation. My methodological expertise lies in conducting qualitative, Māori-centred research projects. Recent research interests and publications include indigenous/Māori approaches to wellbeing and the implications thereof for social work; the relationship between care ethics and indigenous/Māori values; and the relationship between colonisation, care, and justice.
When I’m not working (which admittedly these days is not often) I enjoy gardening, fishing, participating in iwi development activities, learning te reo (Māori language) and generally pottering around home. I live with my partner, Paul and assorted (non-edible) animals on a lifestyle block near Marton in the Rangitīkei district of New Zealand.
