The Council on Environmental Justice and Human Rights (CEJHR) is a council of the Commission on Global Social Work Education. The council's charge includes the following: 

  • To provide leadership for the advancement of human rights and the rights of nature.
  • To educate social workers about the global environmental crisis, the impact of climate change, and the disproportionate impact on communities and ecologies, including the historical and continuing colonialist behaviors that led us to this situation.
  • To identify policy implications and mechanisms, advocating for the enhancement and protection of the earth, nature, and peoples across the globe.
  • To advocate for the sovereignty of Indigenous and tribal nations and the importance of place and land-based knowledge and practices within social work education.
  • To recommend the inclusion and development of interventions that redress oppressive structural barriers that interfere with restorative healing.

Leadership & Members

Leah Prussia

Leah Prussia, DSW, LICSW, SEP

Associate Professor in the Master of Social Work Program at the College of St. Scholastica

Chair

Amelia Mahan

Amelia Mahan, DSW, LCSW

Assistant Clinical Professor in the School of Health Services at the University of the Pacific

Brooks Zitzmann, PhD, LCSW

Adjunct Professor and Social Work Practitioner in the School of Social Work at Tulane University

Cheyenne Tonkin, LMSW, C-ASWCM

DSW Candidate at Stephen F. Austin State University

Helo Oidjarv

Helo Oidjarv, PhD, MSW

BSW Program Director and Associate Professor in the Social Work Program at Greenville University

Keri Otte

Keri Otte, MSW, DSW, LCSW

Assistant Professor and MSW Practicum Director in the School of Social Work at the University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point

Mariann Bischoff

Mariann Bischoff, MS, MSW, LCSW

Assistant Teaching Professor / Management and Policy Practicum Coordinator in the School of Social Work at Rutgers University

Melissa Calnon

Melissa Calnon, DHSc, LCSW

Assistant Clinical Professor in the Social Work Program at the University of the Pacific

Natalie Moore Bembry

Natalie Moore-Bembry, EdD, MSW, LCSW

Assistant Professor of Teaching in the Camden BASW Program at Rutgers University

Renee Rawcliffe

Renee M. Rawcliffe, LMSW, PhD Candidate

Adjunct Faculty and Director of Continuing Education and Professional Development in the School of Social Work at Adelphi University

ZaDonna Slay, DSW

Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work and Urban Studies at Tennessee State University