Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 hours ago
Subversive Social Work: Critical Race Theory in Social Welfare Policy, Pedagogy and Practice
This panel provides attendees with tools to “think, teach and transform” social welfare with CRT methodologies. CRT is an apt lens for the field, since, as a “helping” profession, social work is rife with problematic themes for those seeking a social justice lens. The development of the profession and of its academic literature shows a history that harkens liberal politics, the normalization of whiteness, the pathologization of individuals and communities of color, and a focus on the individual problems rather than systemic injustices. That being said, social work is also a value-laden profession, with its most passionate ambassadors insisting that social justice is at its core. Included in its code of ethics are concepts such as challenging social injustice, dignity and worth of a person, and the importance of human relationships.
Providing a comprehensive overview of subversive scholarship in social welfare, this panel details how CRT has impacted the field since 2002. The first paper describes the genealogy of CRT social work scholarship and its application in the profession. Second, a QuantCrit scholar with an eye towards racial wealth and health equity, examines structural mechanisms and presents theoretical and empirical examples that illustrate the racialized relationships among structural racism, wealth building, and health outcomes. Finally, the third paper describes a course situated at the intersection of social work and ethnic studies that positions counter-storytelling as both method and praxis: a means of thinking critically, teaching responsively, and transforming how knowledge and power operate in the classroom.
•Dr. Stacey Chimimba Ault, CEO, The RAGE Project
•Susan Lares-Nakaoka, Director of Practicum, Social Welfare, UCLA
•Larry Ortiz, Professor of Social Work, Loma Linda University
•Cindy C. Sangalang, Assistant Professor of Social Welfare and Asian American Studies, UCLA
•Sicong “Summer” Sun, Assistant Professor of Social Welfare, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
•Nicole Vazquez, CEO, Armor Adelante LLC and Program Coordinator, My TRIBE Rise
Subversive Social Work: Critical Race Theory in Social Welfare Policy, Pedagogy and Practice
This panel provides attendees with tools to “think, teach and transform” social welfare with CRT methodologies. CRT is an apt lens for the field, since, as a “helping” profession, social work is rife with problematic themes for those seeking a social justice lens. The development of the profession and of its academic literature shows a history that harkens liberal politics, the normalization of whiteness, the pathologization of individuals and communities of color, and a focus on the individual problems rather than systemic injustices. That being said, social work is also a value-laden profession, with its most passionate ambassadors insisting that social justice is at its core. Included in its code of ethics are concepts such as challenging social injustice, dignity and worth of a person, and the importance of human relationships.
Providing a comprehensive overview of subversive scholarship in social welfare, this panel details how CRT has impacted the field since 2002. The first paper describes the genealogy of CRT social work scholarship and its application in the profession. Second, a QuantCrit scholar with an eye towards racial wealth and health equity, examines structural mechanisms and presents theoretical and empirical examples that illustrate the racialized relationships among structural racism, wealth building, and health outcomes. Finally, the third paper describes a course situated at the intersection of social work and ethnic studies that positions counter-storytelling as both method and praxis: a means of thinking critically, teaching responsively, and transforming how knowledge and power operate in the classroom.
•Dr. Stacey Chimimba Ault, CEO, The RAGE Project
•Susan Lares-Nakaoka, Director of Practicum, Social Welfare, UCLA
•Larry Ortiz, Professor of Social Work, Loma Linda University
•Cindy C. Sangalang, Assistant Professor of Social Welfare and Asian American Studies, UCLA
•Sicong “Summer” Sun, Assistant Professor of Social Welfare, UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs
•Nicole Vazquez, CEO, Armor Adelante LLC and Program Coordinator, My TRIBE Rise
