Social Work Voice-NASW: Lecturer Malaka Mims (MSW’15) Shares Her Journey to Becoming a Social Worker

The National Association of Social Work – Massachusetts (NASW-MA) magazine “Social Work Voice” recently featured Malaka Mims (MSW’15), a lecturer and alum of BU School of Social Work (BUSSW) in their member spotlight where she shares the reasons why she became a social worker. Mims is also the president of the Greater Boston Association of Black Social Workers (GBABSW). In the interview, she discusses her roles as a social worker, leader, educator, advocate, consultant, podcaster, and doctoral student.
Excerpt from “Member Spotlight: Malaka Mims, MSW, LICSW” by Brianna Silvia:
‘Growing up as a kid in my community, I can’t remember anyone wanting to be a social worker. Many families wanted their kids to be doctors, lawyers, or nurses,’ says Malaka Mims. Yet, her father was the one to guide her into the field of social work. A well-known social worker in the community, Sekou Mims, was responsible for giving Malaka the push she needed to pursue several social work degrees. Now, Malaka is a very proud generalist emphasizing that she does it all, even while many social workers can become siloed in ‘clinical’ or ‘macro.’ For Malaka, it’s a priority to stay equally engaged in both sides of the work. She provides therapy, consulting, and training workshops through her private practice and has her own podcast. In addition, she is a lecturer at Boston University School of Social Work, where she teaches a range of classes, ethics courses being her favorite. Malaka is currently a Doctoral Student at Morgan State, the first historically black college to have a Doctoral of Social Work (DSW) program. A life-long learner, Malaka thinks her current role as a student syncs well with her life at this moment, as it allows her to embrace that student role and ‘ask all the questions.’”
“Social Work Voice” is available to all NASW-MA members.