Hope Conference Speakers

Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, MPH, ACSW
Executive Director
National Association of Social Workers

Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, MPH, ACSW, is the Executive Director of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). Located in Washington, DC, NASW is the largest membership organization of professional social workers in the world with nearly 145,000 members. In addition to promoting, developing, and protecting the practice of social work and social workers, NASW has a strong social justice and advocacy mission. Dr. Clark is a member of the Academy of Certified Social Workers and of the National Academies of Practice. She sits on the board of directors of C-Change, Collaborating to Conquer Cancer, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and the Foundation for Hospices in Sub-Saharan Africa. She is the co-principal investigator of the National Study of Licensed Social Workers Project. She is also the co-editor of the recently published book Social Work Matters: The Power of Linking Policy and Practice.

Dr. Clark’s background is in healthcare with a specialization in oncology. She has worked in direct clinical practice; has held several academic positions including an Associate Professorship in Medical Oncology; has been a hospital administrator; has conducted research and has published in areas such as the social work workforce, and social work policy, as well as clinical areas such as illness and loss, hope and survivorship. She also consults with the People to People Ambassador Program, and has led social work delegations to China, Cambodia, South Africa, Egypt, Russia, Brazil, and India.

Dr. Clark holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in social work and a master’s of public health from the University of Pittsburgh as well as a master’s degree and doctorate in medical sociology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also the recipient of an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa.

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