Ellis Ballard is an Associate Professor of Practice at the Brown School and at the School of Public Health. His body of work focuses on partnering with research & community partners on the use of participatory systems science & design methods to develop community-driven strategies, and on leading methodological innovation on the use of these tools. He is the specialization chair for the Brown School’s System Dynamics Specialization and teaches courses in Community Based System Dynamics, System Dynamics Simulation for Strategic Design, and SD Applied Practice Labs. He is the former Director and advisor for the Brown School’s Social System Design Lab.
In addition to his work at the Brown School, Ellis is a Founding Partner at Tributary Design, a strategic design partnership that works with community organizations, health systems, and researchers apply system dynamics modeling to examine complex problems and human-centered design to translate insights into action.
Prior to joining the Brown School, Ellis worked in disability rights advocacy and research. He advanced disability rights advocacy in U.S foreign affairs and contributed to capacity building efforts and program evaluations with community-based organizations and disabled people’s organizations in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, India, Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. Ellis has a Masters of Social Work and a Masters of Public Health from the Brown School at Washington University and a Bachelor’s degree in English and History from Oberlin College in Ohio. In his free time he is an active cyclist and a budding gardener.
Dr. Pam Begay’s work and her research interests include clinical social work practice, cultural identity, Indigenous knowledge, and issues surrounding Native women.
Dr. Begay is an Associate Professor of Practice and serves as the Director of the Kathryn M. Buder Center for American Indian Studies. She teaches in the mental health and American Indian/Alaska Native concentration and maintains a private practice focusing on trauma treatment and psychodynamic theory.
Dr. Begay is senior editor for the Journal of Indigenous Research, Clinical Social Work Journal-Editorial Board Member, Council on Social Work Education Commissioner-Commission on Diversity & Social and Economic Justice, North American Commissioner for the International Federation of Social Workers, and Board Member of the WashU Association of Women Faculty.
Dr. Begay is from the Diné Nation and was born in Shiprock, New Mexico. She received her PhD in clinical social work from Smith College, School for Social Work, her MSW from Washington University in St. Louis, and her BA from the University of New Mexico. Dr. Begay enjoys running and visiting national parks with her family in the summer.
Heather Cameron develops and teaches a transdisciplinary curriculum in social innovation and entrepreneurship, advises students at the masters and doctoral levels, builds career and enterprise pipelines, and pursues research on comparative urban education and development, and social impact strategies.
Cameron has served on the faculties of Free University of Berlin and the University of the Western Cape in South Africa. She was honored by the German Association of University Professors and Lecturers as Professor of the Year for her extraordinary teaching, engagement and innovation.
She is also the founder of several prize-winning social enterprises in the fields of education and sports for community development, including Boxgirls and Camp Group, a winner of the Google Impact Challenge for its educational tool for refugee children. In 2010 she was recognized for her work as a social innovator with an Ashoka Fellowship. She continues to work all over the world as an advisor and evaluator of development and education projects, most recently for the Ministry of Education in Afghanistan.
She completed post-doctoral studies on technology and public space at the Technical University of Berlin.
Lorien Carter brings her years of direct social work practice experience into the classroom to teach several graduate-level Social Work Practice and Administration courses.
She serves on the MSW Program and Curriculum Committees as the chair of the foundations curriculum, and has received the Brown School’s Excellence in Teaching faculty award on four occasions.
In 2015, Carter founded an instructional coaching initiative to enhance teaching excellence at the Brown School. She has also co-trained more than 300 local field instructors in the Brown School’s evidence-based practice model.
Carter has 10 years of direct practice experience with adolescents, as well as program coordination and management experience in public school and health care settings. She provides performance management consultation services through EMD Consulting Group. Carter is a trainer and curriculum writer for Wyman Center’s Teen Outreach Program as well as an executive board member for Youth Be Heard, a national non-profit that elevates youth voice through creative expression. She is a past executive board member and current committee member for Missouri’s Teen Pregnancy & Prevention Partnership.
Carter is a highly sought after facilitator for agency staff trainings on topics related to adolescent development, group work facilitation, logic models, the adult learner model and professional team-building.
Throughout his career, Dan Ferris has led and learned from a variety of initiatives in settings ranging from offices of government affairs, community public health organizations, and research institutes. At the Brown School, Ferris applies his experience working with government, community organizations, academics, and other stakeholders to his teaching, research, and continued commitment to policy practice.
As the inaugural assistant dean for policy initiatives at the Brown School, Ferris expanded the Master of Social Policy Dual-Degree program and continues to support student-learning opportunities such as the Graduate Policy Scholars program and Cigna Foundation fellowship in grantmaking. He is also the Co-Director of Policy Education and Practice at the Brown School’s Center for Social Development, where he leads a Data for Social Impact Initiative, a JPMorgan Chase Foundation supported doctoral scholars program, and additional policy teaching and training initiatives. Additionally, he is committed to research, programs, and policies that address disparities and inequities, particularly surrounding food insecurity in St. Louis and beyond, conducting and translating into practice multiple food policy research projects.
Ferris has taught graduate courses in policy analysis, social welfare, legislative advocacy, and health care at New York University, the Touro Graduate School of Social Work, and the Brown School.
Before coming to the Brown School, Ferris received his Master’s in Public Administration with a concentration in Public Policy from New York University Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and his PhD in Public and Social Policy from Saint Louis University.
Marcia Ford’s career has been devoted to improving the quality and accessibility of behavioral health treatment for children and youth. She has local, state, and national expertise in behavioral health policies and services, specifically policies and services reflective of the existing community mental health systems of care. Her organization and leadership expertise include risk management, strategic planning, change management, mentorship, and trauma-informed care.
Prior to joining the Brown School community, Ford held significant clinical and leadership roles with the Missouri Department of Mental Health. During her tenure, she provided direct services to youth and their families as a clinical social worker and held management positions in residential, acute and outpatient settings. As the Chief Operating Officer of Hawthorn Children’s Psychiatric Hospital, her focus on improving patient safety outcomes and quality of treatment led to the facility’s recognition as a Joint Commission Top Performer. Ford also spearheaded Hawthorn’s efforts to become a Sanctuary Certified, trauma-informed treatment organization. As the Children’s Director for the Department of Mental Health, she provided oversight for all children’s behavioral health services funded by the department and strived to enhance collaboration among youth-serving agencies.
Ford is a graduate of the Brown School and is a licensed clinical social worker. She supported students as a field instructor and adjunct faculty member before joining the school full-time. She teaches in the MSW curriculum, and, as director of the Part-Time MSW Program, oversees the implementation and growth of the MSW Part-Time Program.