Each year the Society for Social Work Leaders in Health Care recognizes one student from the three St. Louis schools of social work as having shown exceptional social work practice growth and performance. This year Brown School student Lisa Fraser will receive this honor, and she will be recognized on November 13th with a cash award and a year’s membership to the Society.

Lisa graduated with a BSW from the University of Central Missouri in May 2000 where she worked in practicum experiences in mental health and refugee resettlement. After graduation she served in the Peace Corps as an agro-forestry volunteer in Sannou, Guinea, West Africa and then returned to St. Louis to coordinate a nursing assistant training program for refugees and asylees at the International Institute.

Currently Lisa is working full-time at the St. Louis ARC, a non-profit organization which supports adults with developmental disabilities, as well as fulfilling her concentration practicum at the St. Louis Veterans Administration Medical Center.  Lisa also serves as the co-chair of Social Workers in Health Care and as the MSW student representative on the board of NASW-MO.  She looks forward to becoming a new member of the SSWLHC as a recipient of the Society's award.

Lisa’s interests in social work are in the field of healthcare, specifically in working with adults and older adults and their families in acute care settings as they transition through the health care system; health disparities and barriers to care for at-risk populations; and culturally-competent care by local health care systems. Upon graduation from the Brown School Lisa would like to put these interests into action by working within the Veterans Administration Medical Center system in St. Louis.  She looks forward to contributing to the social work profession on a local, state, and nationwide level through her involvement in professional social work organizations including NASW and SSWLHC.