NASW Georgia Chapter Board of Directors
The NASW-GA Board of Directors is comprised of 12 Board members who are appointed from the Chapter membership. All Board members serve 3-year terms except for student representatives and a president-elect who hold (1) one-year terms. Board terms follow the Chapter fiscal year, which begins July 1 and ends June 30th each year. The Board of Directors holds 5 meetings during the year, including an annual Board Orientation. All Board meetings, except for executive sessions, are open to the membership. Board members are fundamentally responsible for carrying out the Association’s mission and what it strives to accomplish at the state/local levels, discuss association policy and programming, and set chapter policies concerning social work practice issues.
NASW-GA is comprised of 4 Regions (North, South, East, and West Regions).
Each Region is Represented on the Board of Directors by a Region Representative and a Member-at-Large Representative. The board members, and their email addresses, are shown below.
Cookie has been a professional social worker for over 40 years. Her areas of practice include chemical dependency treatment, psychiatric social work, hospice, and home care teaching and research. Practice settings included both public and private. Cookie has been on NASW Chapter Boards in Missouri and Georgia.
Eunice Malavé de León, MSW, ACSW, LCSW, Ed.D.
East Region Member-at-Large
eastregion.naswga@socialworkers.org
Eunice Malavé de León is an Independent Clinical Social Worker in the city of Augusta, Georgia. For the past four years, she has been working with the immigrant population on sexual abuse, human trafficking, domestic violence, among other situations. She is bilingual, a community activist promoting equity for African American and Latinx populations in access to health, mental health, and food services. Eunice has a doctorate in Education from Nova Southeastern University, a master's degree in Social Work from the University of Puerto Rico, and a gerontology certification
from the UPR Medical Sciences Campus. Her interests are mainly in educational, spiritual, equity, and socio-cultural aspects. She enjoys diversity, new relationships, travel, music and is married to Dr. Richard F. Camino Gaztambide.
and dogs in their home in Forsyth. She retired in 2016 ; however, involvement in various volunteer activities and hobbies keep her active and challenged.
Jan N. Yates has over 40 years of experience working in Social Work. She has worked in Inpatient Mental Health, O/P Therapy, Hospice and Crisis Services as a clinician, supervisor and administrator. She has held faculty positions at Tift College, Wesleyan College and University of Georgia School of Social Work. She has provided consultation for nursing homes, dialysis centers as well as supervised social work staff and interns. Jan is married to Ed Leysath, a retired Rehabilitation Counselor. She and her husband have a menagerie of rescued cats
Jeanie Witcraft-Shiau, LCSW is originally from Oklahoma and passionately advocates for those who are frequently not heard. She has expertise in a wide range of populations and settings, though most recently has focused on postpartum mental health for families. You can find her work at www.jwitcraft.com or communicate professional concerns to jeanie@witcraft.com.
Trenese Johnson is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker residing and working in the Metropolitan Atlanta area specializing in mental health, school social work, mobile crisis and clinical supervision. Ms. Johnson has 24 years of experience in the field and is passionate about promoting social work through advocacy, empowerment transformation and social justice initiatives. She holds a Master’sDegree in Social Work and a Leadership Certificate (L-5)
in Education. Ms. Johnson is a certified Teen Mental Health First Aid Instructor, Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor, Crisis Intervention Training-Youth, and Ending The Silence presenter. She is an active member of Changing A Generation Full Gospel Baptist Church and serves on the Youth Parent Steering Committee and in the following professional organizations: (NASW) National Association of Social Work, (NAMI) National Alliance on Mental Health, (SSWAG) School Social Work Association of Georgia and (PAGE) Professional Association of Georgia Education. As a professional social worker, Ms. Johnson aligns herself with the NASW preamble which states that the primary mission of the social work profession is to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed and living in poverty.
Tiffany Taylor is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who resides in and is employed by the State of Georgia. She received her Masters in Social Work from Clark Atlanta University (2004). Ms. Taylor has over 15 years of clinical experience in the field with specializations in working with individuals with developmental disorders, community mental health, medical social work and forensic social work. Ms. Taylor is also currently a Behavioral Health Officer in the United States Army Reserve. She
recently returned from deployment in Southwest Asia where she and her team where responsible for the mental and emotional well being of over 7,000 Soldiers. In addition, to her duties as a Behavioral Health Officer, Ms. Taylor is a Sexual Assault Victim Advocate credentialed through the Department of Defense. She is a Board-Certified Diplomate Social Worker credentialed through American Board of Examiners and is a member of the following organizations: National Association of Social Workers and National Association of Black Social Workers. Ms. Taylor also has a private practice in Henry County where she provides individual, couples, and family counseling.
Barbara Griffin is a graduate of Brooklyn College in NYC and the University of Georgia School of Social Work. She has worked with emotionally disturbed children through the Psychoeducational Center Program, substance abuse and mental health treatment with the State of Georgia, hospice, and as a dialysis Social Worker. She has been in Ware County since 1980 where she initiated the formation of a Big Brother/Big Sister program, served as Chair for the Ware County Democratic Committee, Vice-President of the Waycross NAACP, supported the local
humane society, and participated in productions with the Waycross Area Community Theater. In 2015 She helped create a new non-profit theater company, Purlie Productions, which has as its motto “To elevate, educate and inspire.” She is a proud member of the National Association of Social Workers and participated in candidacy endorsement with the PACE Committee. Barbara is currently employed with DaVita as a dialysis Social Worker in the Southeast Georgia area.
Shauna Mattingly is a licensed clinical social worker and the owner of Anchored in Wellness, LLC where her team of providers help treat clients from a holistic perspective for mind, body and spiritual healing. She is an active leader within her community and serves as the chair of local groups working on mental health and substance abuse awareness and treatment. She serves as the Chair for the Wayne County Substance Abuse Coalition as well as the Chair for the Wayne County Mental Health Task Force. Shauna actively serves as a clinical supervisor, preparing other social
