CRISP Board of Directors
Justin Hodge
President
Justin Hodge is a clinical assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan. He is the co-lead for the Policy & Political Social Work Pathway and the director of the Online Certificate in Political Social Work. He was elected to the Washtenaw County Board of Commissioners in November 2020.
Emily Hopkins
Vice President
Emily recently graduated with her MSW from the University of Michigan School. She is passionate about people, social policy, and political social work. She was a Presidential Management Fellowship Finalist in 2020 and will be pursuing a career advocating for children and social policy reform.
Sheryl Brissett-Chapman
Treasurer
Dr. Sheryl Brissett Chapman has served as Executive Director of the National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) since 1991. NCCF is a private nonprofit agency committed to serving vulnerable children, youth, and families annually serving more than 4,000 children and families.
Elizabeth Gillette
Secretary
Elizabeth is a graduate student at the Columbia University School of Social Work and a Council of World Women Leaders Graduate Fellow at The Global Institute for Women’s Leadership, King’s College, London. She served as the 2020-2021 CSSW Senator for Columbia University.
Charles E. Lewis, Jr.
Director
Dr. Charles E. Lewis, Jr. is the founder and director of CRISP. He was the Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director for Congressman Ed Towns and taught at Howard University School of Social Work. He was inducted as a Fellow by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare.
Heather Walter-McCabe
Board Member
Heather Walter-McCabe is an Associate Professor at the Wayne State University School of Social Work with a joint appointment at the Wayne State University School of Law. She combines her macro social work skills with her legal skills to impact health policy to improve health equity.
James Craigen
Board Member
James E. Craigen, Sr. is an Associate Professor Emeritus at Howard University School of Social Work who served on the faculty for nearly four decades. He served as Chair of the Macro Practice Sequence where he was responsible for teaching community organization, and social policy.
Sarah Christa Butts
Board Member
Sarah Christa Butts, LMSW, is director of public policy at the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the largest social work organization in the nation, with 55 local chapters in states and U.S. territories. Butts heads NASW’s public policy, political and legislative affairs.
Justin Hodge is a clinical assistant professor of social work at the University of Michigan. He is the co-lead for the Policy & Political Social Work Pathway and the director of the Online Certificate in Political Social Work. Hodge is committed to increasing the presence of social workers in policy and political spaces. He teaches courses that provide students with the tools to engage in politics and approach policy work from a social justice perspective. 
Emily recently graduated with her Masters of Social Work from the University of Michigan School of Social Work. She is passionate about people, social policy, and political social work. Emily knows the value of civic participation and hopes to always be an advocate for vulnerable populations. She is a 2020 Presidential Management Fellowship Finalist and will be pursuing a career in the public sector bridging her passions of advocating for children and social policy reform. Emily earned her Master of Social Work degree in Social Policy and Political Social Work at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Sheryl Brissett Chapman has served as Executive Director of the National Center for Children and Families (NCCF) since 1991. NCCF is a private nonprofit agency committed to serving vulnerable children, youth, and families. Under Dr. Chapman’s leadership, the organization has grown from a facility housing 60 children to a comprehensive regional center annually serving more than 4,000 children, families, survivors of domestic violence, and abused and neglected children and adolescents. A leading expert in child and family welfare, Dr. Chapman joined NCCF after serving as Associate Director, Clinical Services, Research, and Administration, Division of Child Protection, Children’s National Medical Center and as Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the George Washington University School of Medicine in Washington, DC. Dr. Chapman publishes and presents nationally on a wide range of topics including juvenile justice, systems reform in child and family welfare, poverty and homelessness, childhood trauma, domestic violence, cultural competency, and ethics. Dr. Chapman received her B.A. degree at Brown University, where she now serves as Trustee Emerita. She obtained her M.S.W. degree from the University of Connecticut. She later completed a second Master’s degree and Doctorate in Education, Administration, Planning, and Social Policy at Harvard University.
Elizabeth Gillette is a graduate student at the Columbia University School of Social Work and 
Charles E. Lewis, Jr., a political social worker, is the founder and director of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP), a nonprofit organization that works to engage social workers with the U.S. Congress. CRISP produces an annual Social Work Day on the Hill and Student Advocacy Day during the month of March which is Social Work Month. He was recently inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare. Dr. Lewis was Deputy Chief of Staff and Communications Director for former Congressman Ed Towns when he oversaw the creation of the Congressional Social Work Caucus. He is a member of the 12 Grand Challenges for Social Work Leadership Board, the Board of Directors of Influencing Social Policy, and a Commisoner with the Special Commission on Advancing Macro Social Work Practice. He earned his MSW degree in clinical counseling from Clark Atlanta University and PhD in policy, planning and policy analysis from Columbia University.
Heather Walter-McCabe is an associate professor with joint appointments at the Wayne State University School of Social Work and the Wayne State University School of Law. Professor Walter-McCabe began her career as a social worker at a high acuity pediatric tertiary care hospital in the Midwest, where she saw families significantly impacted by health policy. Following law school, she partnered her macro social work skills with her legal skills to work to impact health policy to improve health equity. Professor Walter-McCabe’s research is conducted at the intersection of law, social work, and public health. Her research translates complex legal issues and social work research findings across multiple professions to make the information accessible for use by practitioners and advocates in improving population health. As a part of this work she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Public Health Law Teaching Fellow from 2014-2016. Most recently she is leading research examining law and policy impacting LGBTQ health equity and well-being. Professor Walter-McCabe earned her BA from Indiana University Bloomington, her MSW from Indiana University School of Social Work, and her JD from Robert H McKinney Indiana University School of Law. She has published in traditional peer-reviewed academic journals and law reviews and has also been sought by media to explain core issues of public health policy. Professor Walter-McCabe serves on the Executive Board of the American Public Health Association.
James E. Craigen, Sr. is an Associate Professor Emeritus at Howard University School of Social Work who served on the faculty for nearly four decades. He most recently served as Chair of the Macro Practice Sequence where he was responsible for teaching community organization, social policy, and human services management courses. His area of specialization is family and child welfare. He has been Chair of the Baltimore City Commission on Social Service since 1997 and is the former Co-Chair of the Health Families/Thriving Communities Coalition of Washington, DC. He also was a founding member of the District of Columbia Health and Human Services Coalition. Craigen holds memberships in several professional organizations including: the Council on Social Work Education, National Association of Black Social Workers, and the Association of Community Organizations and Social Administration (ACOSA). He has been the recipient of the Winning in Excellence Award in Teaching, the Alpha Phi Alpha Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Teaching, and has served as the Public Member of the Foreign Service Selection Board, Department of State. James Craigen received his B.A. degree in Sociology from Morris Brown College, and his M.S.W. degree from Atlanta University School of Social Work. He also did post-graduate study and served on the faculty at the University of Chicago.
Sarah Christa Butts, LMSW, is director of public policy at the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), headquarters office in Washington, D.C. NASW is the largest social work organization in the nation, representing the interests of over 700,000 social workers nationwide, with 55 local chapters in states and U.S. territories. Butts is responsible for leading the association’s public policy, political and legislative affairs agenda, overseeing field organizing, working at both the national level and with NASW chapters, political candidates’ fundraising and endorsement efforts, as well as developing and advancing the association’s strategic goals and objectives related to influencing the legislative and executive branches of government. Prior to joining NASW, Sarah served as the executive director of the Grand Challenges for Social Work, a national initiative modeled after a similar undertaking spearheaded by the National Academy of Engineering, whereby 12 science supported challenges were advanced to tackle societies toughest social problems. Sarah is also the founding administrator of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare (AASWSW)—an honorific society for the social work profession and served as an assistant to the dean at University of Maryland, School of Social Work. Butts has also held roles in state and local government, as well as nonprofits, having held positions in Maryland’s Department of Human Services, Social Services Administration and the Family League of Baltimore. In 2018 she was the recipient of The Daily Record’s 40 under 40 VIP list award. She is a contributing author on the 2018 Oxford University Press book, Grand Challenges for Social Work and Society and a 2015 AASWSW paper titled, the Grand Challenge of Ending Homelessness.