Welcome

Join us in welcoming eight new faculty and staff members to the School of Social Work community. We are glad you are part of the family!

Nnenne Onyioha-Clayton

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Nnenne Onyioha-Clayton is the African Programming and Research Initiative to End Slavery (APRIES) program manager of research and implementation work conducted in Senegal. She is an active community advocate and a graduate of the Partnership for Southern Equity’s Just Energy Academy, designed to effectively engage communities on issues of race and equity. Onyioha-Clayton holds a BSc in biology from University College London.

Yosha Dotson

Photo by Laurie Anderson

Yosha Dotson comes to us as an academic professional and graduate recruitment coordinator. Dotson graduated from the School of Social Work with her MSW in 2017. She is an ardent advocate for mental health. Before returning to UGA, Dotson’s work experience included collaborating with local and state government leaders to affect change and policy issues.

Gail Kurtz

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Gina Kurtz, financial and human resources director, joined us from the Office of Global Engagement (OGE), where she served as associate director of finance for the past five years. She served in multiple roles at OGE and elsewhere at UGA, has extensive experience in finance and in human resources, and supervisory experience with both staff and students. Kurtz holds an MBA from Liberty University.

Margeli Mendez

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Margeli Mendez, administrative assistant, joined us on a permanent basis as the assistant for the field office. She had been employed in this role as a temporary staff member for a number of months. Mendez has worked in the nonprofit sector for over 10 years and is a Certified Leadership Coach, Speaker and Trainer.

Rebecca Poon

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Rebecca C. Poon, APRIES Monitoring, Evaluation, Research and Learning (MERL) coordinator. Poon comes with over 16 years of experience in education and has led research projects, conducted formative and impact evaluation studies, and coordinated the implementation of district-wide programs and policies. She holds a PhD in education from the University of California, Berkeley.

Mamadou Thiam

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Mamadou Thiam, is the APRIES Program Manager for Guinea effective February 1, 2021. Mamadou holds a BBA degree from the University of New Hampshire and has 10 years of work experience with INGOs as well the USAID. Mamadou is 100% proficient both English and French and is a great addition to APRIES!

Elke Yath

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Elke Yath, APRIES business manager, is responsible for managing all financial activities. She comes to APRIES from the University of Georgia Human Resources and Payroll Office. She has twelve years of experience working in the HR field and holds the professional designations of SHRM-SCP and PHR. She holds a BBA from Brenau University.

Hui Yi

Photo by Yuchang Wu

Hui Yi, APRIES research scientist holds a PhD in statistics from Virginia Tech. She conducts research using statistical analysis for complex, high volume and high-dimensional data. The statistical methods she closely works with include regression, multivariate methods, Bayesian models, data mining, machine learning, amongst others.