Officers
President
Prof Leila Patel
2025-2029
Leila Patel is Distinguished Professor of Social Development Studies at the Centre for Social Development in Africa (CSDA), University of Johannesburg in South Africa. Her research interests are in social welfare and social development in the Global South focusing on poverty eradication, social protection policies, gender and the care economy and the linkages between social protection policies, welfare services and labour markets. She has published widely in international journals. She is the recipient of numerous national and international awards. She is the founding director of the CSDA and played a leading role in the development of South Africa’s welfare policy after apartheid. Her latest books are ‘Social Welfare and Social Development’ (2015 Oxford University Press) and ‘Social Protection and Social Development in the Global South’ (2023 Edward Elgar). Her forthcoming book in 2026 is with Barrientos, A., Carnes, M., HackJju Kwon, Obinger, H., Patel, L. Schmitt, C. titled a Handbook of Social Policies in the Global South to be published by Oxford University Press. Leila is the President of the ICSD and serves on the board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD).
Vice President for Planning and Organization Evaluation
Prof Chathapuram Ramanathan
2024-2028
Dr. Chathapuram Ramanathan, PhD, ACSW, LMSW, LMFT, CAC is Professor of Social Work at Illinois State University, Dr. Ramanathan brings more than four decades of experience as a practitioner, educator, and administrator. His work focuses on cross-cultural practice, social development, and corporate social responsibility. A licensed psychotherapist and marriage and family therapist, he currently serves as Vice President for Planning and Organizational Evaluation with the International Consortium for Social Development (ICSD). A Fulbright-Nehru Visiting Scholar at NIMHANS and Fulbright Senior Specialist at TISS, he has served on NASW’s national committees on ethics and diversity and on the CSWE Commission on Accreditation. Widely published, he has delivered keynote addresses and workshops in over 18 countries, co-authored four books, and received multiple national recognitions for his leadership and scholarship.
Vice President for Public
Relations and Communications
Fr/Prof Saju M. D.
2024–2028
Prof. Fr. Saju is the Principal and Professor at the Department of Social Work, Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (Autonomous), Cochin, Kerala, India and an approved research guide under Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala. He is honorary principal fellowship at the University of Melbourne, Australia (2022 to present), and serves as Honorary Professor at the University of Edinburgh (2024–present), UK. He serves as the vice-president of International Consortium of Social Development-(ICSD). With over 20 years of teaching and research experience, Prof. Dr. (Fr.) Saju M.D has more than 50 publications in high-impact journals. He has led multiple funded projects, including as PI of the UKIERI partnership with York University, UK, and PI of the ICSSR IMPRESS and SPARC projects. He also headed the award-winning REaCH project, recognised with the Kerala State e-Governance Special Jury Award (2022). Prof. Dr. (Fr.) Saju M. D serves is the consultant for the Sea Wise Workplace Mental Health Initiative (Cochin Shipyard), SMILES (Federal Bank) and Director of the LIFE–Happiness and Wellbeing Centre. His research spans public health, mental health, disability, suicide, dementia, and social work education. His career reflects a strong commitment to academic leadership, international collaborations, and innovative community – based interventions.
Vice President for Special Projects
Prof Lauren Graham
2024-2028
Lauren Graham is a development sociologist deeply committed to social justice. Her academic work focuses on enhancing opportunities for people to realise their full potential. She studies how structural barriers contribute to marginalisation and identifies effective ways to empower individuals to lead lives they value. Lauren’s research primarily targets marginalised and excluded groups, including unemployed youth, people with disabilities, vulnerable workers, and children in difficult circumstances. While she is dedicated to advancing theoretical research, she also uses evidence to create innovative policy and programmatic solutions to improve social development outcomes for excluded groups. Her work is highly relevant to policymaking and aims to ensure that research benefits the societies it serves. She is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg, former Director of the Centre for Social Development in Africa (CSDA), a research centre focused on applied social development research, and is currently serving as the Interim DSTI/NRF Research Chair in Welfare and Social Development at the CSDA.
Secretary General
Vacant
Vacant
Associate Secretary General for Regional Branches
Prof Bipin Jojo
2024-2028
Dr. Bipin Jojo is Professor in the Centre for Social Justice and Governance, School of Social Work at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. He was a common wealth visiting fellow to School of Oriental and African Stuides, University of London during 2008-09. He was a visiting professor to University of Tampree, Finland in 2018 and also delivered lectures at University of Bilbao, Spain and Masaryk University, Czech Republic. He served as the chairperson of Centre for Social Justice and Governance between 2006-2012. He also served as the chairperson of International Relation Office at Tata Institute of Social Sciences between 2009-2012. Durinfg this period he was instrumental in establishing international academic collaboration with with consortium of European Universities under Erasmus Mundus project funded by the European Union led by Lund University, Sweden.He was the co-researcher in the collaborative research project with University of Edinburgh and University of East London in United Kingdom funded by the British Council. He also worked in a collaborative research project on communities’ informal care and welfare systems with Charles Sturt University, Australia.
Associate Secretary General for Membership
Dr Vikash Kumar
(Interim)
Dr Kumar is interm Associate Secretary General for Membership. He has a multidisciplinary background in Global Health and Social Work. He earned a doctoral degree in Global Health from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, which examine the delivery of mental health and non-communicable disease service at the public hospitals in India. He has taught social work courses in India and the UK and supervised many students for their field work practicum. Regarding social work practice, Dr Kumar has implemented various projects related to community health, emergency response, homelessness and livelihood for marginalised communities for the past 8 years. He has received numerous grants for his research projects and social enterprise. Dr Kumar’s research interests include health care for elderly, mental health services delivery, homelessness, education, health system strengthening. Dr Kumar is keen in working with students and colleagues to use technologies to develop models and interventions to tackle contemporary social problems at local and global level.
Associate Secretary General for Communication
Prof Marianna Colvin
2024-2028
Marianna Colvin is the Associate Dean of Research & Academic Effectiveness in the College of Social Work and Criminal Justice and an Associate Professor in the Phyllis & Harvey Sandler School of Social Work at Florida Atlantic University. She also serves as Director of the Child Welfare Institute, where she teaches courses on global social work, child welfare, and social work supervision, and coordinates the School’s Child Welfare Certificate Program. Her research centers on strengthening interorganizational service delivery systems, fostering multi- and transdisciplinary collaborations, and advancing youth and parent engagement in child welfare practice. Across projects, she partners with government and community agencies to co-design research to inform policy and strengthen family-support systems and she is co-editor of a forthcoming book with Oxford University Press, titled: Beyond Adversity: Global Perspectives on Family Dispute Resolution for Peace and Justice. Her methodological expertise spans mixed methods, network analysis, and participatory action research designs, and she has an extensive record of implementing grant funded, community-engaged research for local, regional, and national initiatives
Treasurer
Prof Benjamin J. Lough
2021-2024
2024-2028
Ben Lough is a Professor of Social Work and Business Administration and Director of Social Innovation at the Gies College of Business, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He also holds positions as Senior Research Associate with the Center for Social Development, University of Johannesburg, and Faculty Director of International Service at the Center for Social Development, Washington University in St. Louis. He is a Senior Researcher for the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme. Ben’s research and teaching interests include volunteerism, community development, grassroots social innovation, and non-profit management. He was the lead researcher and author of the UN State of the Worlds Volunteerism Report and is currently researching the contributions of international volunteers to gender equality from the perspectives of partner organizations. Dr. Lough earned his Ph.D. in Social Work from the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis in 2010.
Director of Information Technology
Dr Vikash Kumar
2024-2028
Dr Kumar has a multidisciplinary background in Global Health and Social Work. He earned a doctoral degree in Global Health from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, which examine the delivery of mental health and non-communicable disease service at the public hospitals in India. He has taught social work courses in India and the UK and supervised many students for their field work practicum. Regarding social work practice, Dr Kumar has implemented various projects related to community health, emergency response, homelessness and livelihood for marginalised communities for the past 8 years. He has received numerous grants for his research projects and social enterprise. Dr Kumar’s research interests include health care for elderly, mental health services delivery, homelessness, education, health system strengthening. Dr Kumar is keen in working with students and colleagues to use technologies to develop models and interventions to tackle contemporary social problems at local and global level.
President, European Branch,
Prof Liljana Rihter
2025 – 2027
Liljana Rihter is Associate Professor, researcher and ex-dean at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. She is a teacher of methodology of research in social work. Her research work includes methods and models of evaluation of social protection programmes, vulnerable groups, dementia, working poor, needs assessment and poverty. She has been a member of various groups at the national level in the field of social protection. She has been a member of ICSD since 2004 and a board member of European Branch since 2009. She has participated in various ICSD symposia and European branch conferences. My vision for the ICSD is it should continue to be an inclusive community of diverse groups (experts, professionals, academics, students, other people) who are committed to a decent life for all and sustainable development around the world.
Chairperson, Asia-Pacific Branch
Dr Asok Kumar Sarkar
2022 – 2026
Dr. Asok Kumar Sarkar, Chairperson of the International Consortium for Social Development Asia Pacific branch, is Professor of Social Work. Presently, he serves as Head, Department of Social Work, Visva-Bharati, India and also Principal, Institute of Rural Reconstruction, Visva-Bharati, Sriniketan, India. He is an alumnus of Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Formerly, he worked as Head, Department of Social Work, Assam University, Silchar, Assam. He has authored and edited books such as NGOs: The New Lexicon of Health Care (Concept), NGOs and Globalization: Developmental and Organizational Facets (Rawat), Human Development and Sustainability: Challenges and Strategies (Atlantic), and Welfare of Disadvantaged: Exploring Community Development Approach (Concept). He is the founding editor of Journal of Social Work and Social Development, a UGC-CARE listed journal (of India) and served from 2010 to 2017. His areas of research interests include maternal morbidity, reproductive health, health care, NGOs and social development.
Chairperson, Africa Branch
Prof Lauren Graham
2022 – 2026
Dr. Graham, a development sociologist with a Doctorate in Sociology from the University of Johannesburg, is the Director of the Centre for Social Development in Africa at the University of Johannesburg and was elected to chair the newly launched ICSD Africa branch at the 22nd Biennial Conference of the consortium in July 2021. Previously, Lauren served as Deputy Director of the CSDA. Her research interests are in the application and testing of social and development theories in practice, with a focus on youth, children, and people with disabilities. She has strong expertise in evaluation research and is skilled in the use of both quantitative and qualitative research approaches. She is particularly interested in the use of research methods that give a voice to vulnerable groups. She is a National Research Foundation Y-rated scholar – a rating applied to emerging academics who show strong potential to achieve higher ratings in their careers.
Chair of Board of Managers, SDI Journal
Prof Alice K. Butterfield
2024 – 2028
Dr. Alice K. Butterfield is a professor at the Jane Addams College of Social Work, University of Illinois Chicago. Her scholarship focuses on homelessness, social policy, international social work education, and community development. She is an author of Incorporating Engaged Research in Social Development: Exemplars and Guidelines for Social Work and Human Services (2021); Practicing as a Social Work Educator in International Collaboration (2017); Dynamics of Family Policy (2010); Social Development and Social Work: Learning from Africa (2013); Interdisciplinary Community Development (2007); and University-Community Partnerships (2005). She leads the Social Work Education in Ethiopia Partnership (Project SWEEP), resulting in the first-ever MSW and PhD degrees in Social Work and Social Development in Ethiopia. [http://www.aboutsweep.org]. Dr. Butterfield has served as a Fulbright Specialist with Assam Don Bosco University in Northeast India. She received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Washington University in St. Louis in 2007 and Dakota Wesleyan University in 2022. She can be reached at akj@uic.edu
Editor in Chief, SDI Journal
Prof Philip Hong
2025-2029
Prof. Philip Hong is the Dean of the University of Georgia School of Social Work. Hong’s research has been supported by more than $4.6 million in funding from foundations and federal agencies such as the US Department of Health and Human Services. The social work intervention model that he has developed, “Transforming Impossible into Possible (TIP)”, is a national model for social policies that promote self-sufficiency and family- strengthening. The TIP model is being applied and tested to support communities in the areas of employment and workforce development, health promotion, youth development and empowerment, returning citizen reentry, substance use recovery, and violence prevention. He is the author of more than 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, and other publications as well as 100 refereed conference presentations. Hong has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Poverty and Public Policy and of the journals Social Work Research, and Families in Society. He also has been an external reviewer for the Office of Policy Support in the USDA Food and Nutrition Service.
Editor of the ICSD Newsletter
Vacant
Director of Information Technology
Dr Vikash Kumar
2024-2028
Dr George Palattiyil
Biennial Conference Chair
2021-2027
Dr Kiran Thampi
Biennial Conference Chair
2021-2027
Dr Kumar has a multidisciplinary background in Global Health and Social Work. He earned a doctoral degree in Global Health from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, which examine the delivery of mental health and non-communicable disease service at the public hospitals in India. He has taught social work courses in India and the UK and supervised many students for their field work practicum. Regarding social work practice, Dr Kumar has implemented various projects related to community health, emergency response, homelessness and livelihood for marginalised communities for the past 8 years. He has received numerous grants for his research projects and social enterprise. Dr Kumar’s research interests include health care for elderly, mental health services delivery, homelessness, education, health system strengthening. Dr Kumar is keen in working with students and colleagues to use technologies to develop models and interventions to tackle contemporary social problems at local and global level.
Dr George Palattiyil is a Senior Lecturer in Social Work at the University of Edinburgh and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, UK. With teaching and research experience spanning across India, Scotland, Jordan, Uganda and Bangladesh, he is passionate about internationalising the curriculum and cross-cultural learning and in 2019, won the Best Personal Tutor Award from the Edinburgh University Student Association. He sits on the Board of Directors of Multi–Cultural Family Base, and the Institute for Research and Innovation in Social Services. He has served on the British Journal of Social Work editorial board and currently contributes to the Editorial Board of Practice – Social Work in Action and European Social Work Research Journal, as well as the International Committee of JUCSWEC.
Dr. Kiran Thampi holds a PhD and is an academic and researcher in the field of social work for the past 19 years, currently serving as the Head of the Department of Social Work at Rajagiri College of Social Sciences (Autonomous) in Cochin, Kerala, India. He is an approved research guide under Mahatma Gandhi University and has held the position of Assistant Director of the Office of International Relations since 2012. He also serves as the President of Indian Council of Social Welfare, Kerala State Branch from the year 2024 onwards. He has been appointed as an Honorary Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, effective in 2024. His research and publication interests encompass integrated health models, participatory project planning and management, mental health issues among the elderly and youth, caregiver support in palliative care, and the broader domain of International Social Work.
ICSD Members at Large
Prof David Ansong
2024-2028
David Ansong is a Kuralt Distinguished Associate Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s School of Social Work. He also serves as a faculty director of the Global Asset Building program at the Center for Social Development. His research focuses on economic and finance-related intervention strategies and policies that improve child and youth well-being. He has conducted international research on how financial capability and asset-building (FCAB) interventions impact family well-being and development. He currently leads efforts to shape the agenda for an FCAB initiative in Africa. His work on quantitative methods has focused on geospatial modeling, psychometric testing, assessing unobserved population heterogeneity (e.g., latent class analysis, latent growth curves, and latent mixture modeling), and causal inference (e.g., instrumental variable estimation, propensity score matching, difference-in-difference, fixed effects, and structural equation modeling).
Dr Joachim Vogt Isaksen
2024-2028
Dr. Joachim Vogt Isaksen is Associate Professor in the Department of Social Work at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). Holding a PhD in Sociology, his research spans media sociology, migration and integration, child welfare, and the sociology of health and illness. He has published widely on topics such as attitudes toward immigration, welfare state regimes, and social inclusion, including comparative studies of Sweden and Norway.  He teaches courses in qualitative research methods and professional practice in local and global contexts, bringing critical perspectives on policy, media framing, and intergroup relations.
Prof Justin Francis Leon V. Nicolas, RSW
2024 – 2028
Associate Professor of Social Work at the University of the Philippines Diliman, College of Social Work and Community Development, Dr Nicolas holds a PhD in Social Work from the University of Newcastle (Australia), along with an MSW and BS in Social Work from UP Diliman. His scholarship centres on creativity in social work—exploring how innovative arts-informed approaches, self-care, and reflective practice enrich social work education and practice. Key topics include homelessness in Metro Manila, social work and technology, child-labour, juvenile justice, disability, spirituality, and community reintegration of overseas Filipinos. He is widely published and has active international collaborations.
Prof Rong Xiang
2024 – 2028
Dr. Rong Xiang, Associate Professor at Yunnan University, China, directs the Social Work Research Institute in the School of Ethnology and Sociology. She’s actively involved in NGO development, focusing on social services in China. Dr. Xiang serves on the National Community Governance Committee and as Vice President of Yunnan Federation of Social Workers. She founded several NGOs in Yunnan, including the Heart to Heart Community Care Organization and Foundation, working with migrant and hollowed-out rural communities. Dr. Xiang’s research focuses primarily on developmental social work and social inclusion, along with gender and development, and service learning. Since 2006, she has integrated service learning into her teaching and research, conducting workshops across South and Southeast Asia. Her publications in both English and Chinese have significantly influenced regional social work practices. She has received numerous awards, including national recognition for protecting women’s and children’s rights (2013), National Social Work Top Ten Contributor (2015), and All China Social Work Leader (2017).