Storrs, CT - Salome Raheim, dean of the University of Connecticut’s School of Social Work, has been named as one of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in Connecticut for 2011 by the state conference of the NAACP.
Raheim and the other awardees will be honored Oct. 15 during a luncheon at the NAACPs 46th Annual State Convention, at the Mohegan Sun in Ledyard. Comedian and civil rights activist Dick Gregory will be the keynote speaker.
Raheim arrived in Connecticut in July, 2008 to become dean and a professor at the School of Social Work, and she is now co-chair of the Provost’s Commission on Institutional Diversity. Prior to her arrival in Connecticut, Raheim served as senior associate to the president of the University of Iowa. An academic leader, scholar and educator, she works to promote social and economic justice, human rights, and the improvement of human well-being. For more than 30 years, Raheim has helped hundreds of students pursue their dreams of making a difference in the world.
As a scholar, Raheim has explored economic empowerment through self-employment and increasing individual and organizational cultural competence to promote diversity, inclusion and equity and improve the quality and effectiveness of services. She has written numerous publications and served as principal investigator on studies funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Victims of Crimes and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families.
Raheim has traveled across the United States and to four continents to provide training and consultation to schools, universities, human services organizations and businesses on how to create welcoming, inclusive and equitable environments. She is a collaborator on an on-going international project designed to assist educators, community workers and therapists to address issues of privilege and dominance (see The Privilege Project http://www.dulwichcentre.com.au/privilege.htm).
A native of Baltimore, MD, Raheim grew up with her grandmother and two sisters in the inner city, where poverty and school dropout rates were high. A first generation high school graduate, she earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from Bowie State University, a historically black institution, her master’s degree in social work from the Catholic University of America, and her doctorate in communication studies from the University of Iowa. Raheim was selected as the 2007 Council on Social Work Education Carl A. Scott Memorial Lecturer for her work and commitment to social and economic justice.
