Our Team
Dr. Trina Shanks
Dr. Trina Shanks is Harold R. Johnson Collegiate Professor of Social Work and director of the Center for Equitable Family and Community Well-Being. Since 2018, she has overseen the School’s strategic goal of community engagement, and she leads the evolving ENGAGE team. Shanks also serves as faculty advisor to the New Leaders in African-Centered Social Work Scholars Program. From 2010 to 2012, Shanks was appointed by Michigan Governor Granholm to serve two years on the State Commission on Community Action and Economic Opportunity. She is currently one of the national network co-leads for the Social Work Grand Challenge: Reducing Extreme Economic Inequality and a nonresident fellow at the Urban Institute. Shanks earned a Ph.D. in Social Work from Washington University and an M.S. in Comparative Social Research from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar.
Sonia Harb
Sonia Harb has decades of experience promoting the alleviation of poverty and development of communities of color across southeast Michigan. Currently, Sonia serves as Engagement Strategist for the School of Social Work after having served as a strategic advisor for the provost’s office on Detroit engagement. Prior to joining the University of Michigan, she led the establishment of a multimillion-dollar employment and training operation for ACCESS, developed youth and education programming and innovative initiatives for the organization, and launched ACCESS Growth Center, a department focused on community and economic development. She has served on numerous boards and state commissions, most recently as present vice-chair of the Michigan League for Public Policy's board of directors and past chair of Michigan's Commission on Community Action and Economic Opportunity.
Fatima Salman
Fatima Salman is part of the ENGAGE team, serving as Program Manager for the Employment Equity Learning and Action Collaborative. Fatima completed her undergraduate education at the University of Michigan in 2000 and taught language and linguistics at a local private school. For three years, she lived in Madison, Wisconsin and worked as the principal of a local elementary school. She came back to Michigan, completed her MSW from U of M, and worked as the executive director for the Muslim Students Association during the organization’s time of transition. She currently is the president of the NASW-MI, the chair of the Council of Chapter Presidents for NASW National, and serves on the Program Committee for The Children’s Center in Detroit, Michigan. Fatima was asked to be a part of the Growing Michigan Together Council Higher Education Workgroup by Governor Whitmer in August 2023.
Saria Bechara
Saria Bechara serves as a Program Assistant for the ENGAGE team and the Employment Equity Learning and Action Collaborative. She recently graduated from the U-M Master of Social Work program in the Program Evaluation and Applied Research pathway. During her time in the MSW program, she completed her field placement at the U-M Organizational and Community Multicultural Praxis Lab and worked in the School of Social Work’s Office of Global Activities. Prior to that, Saria studied and worked in Lebanon. She completed her undergraduate education at the Lebanese American University in Psychology and Biology. She also worked and volunteered in both academic and nonprofit spaces, where her positions included research and program development and evaluation roles as well as direct practice roles in psychosocial support provision.