Our Directors and Affiliates

Our Directors facilitate the development and implementation of the Institute's mission and vision with the guidance of our faculty and student affiliates.    

Directors

Filomena Critelli.

Filomena Critelli has a history of engagement in global social justice advocacy and social work within immigrant communities. Her international research projects, scholarship, and academic exchanges have involved partnerships in Pakistan, India, Mexico, Haiti, Kyrgyzstan, and Italy and have focused on gender gender-based violence, migration, and human rights.

Recent publications include Butler, L., Critelli, FM., and Carello, J. (2019). Trauma and Human Rights: Integrating Approaches to Address Human Suffering. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Laura Lewis.

Laura Lewis has facilitated academic partnerships in Moldova and Mexico, and developed and supervised international field placements for MSW students in several countries including India, Macedonia, Thailand, South Korea, and the Dominican Republic.

Affiliates

Sarah Richards-Desai email: scrichar@buffalo.edu
Professional/research interests: Refugee women’s social and economic integration, Social capital and networks of resettled refugees, Transnational feminist research, Mixed methods research, Cultural humility in social work with refugees
Kelly Patterson email: klp27@buffalo.edu
Professional/research interests: Community-based Housing Organizations, Fair Housing Advocacy, Housing Patterns and Poverty, Spatial Issues and Social Service Access/Delivery, Subsidized Housing, Urban Neighborhoods
Asli Yalim email: asliyali@buffalo.edu
Professional/research interests: Refugee Mental Health and Psychosocial Wellbeing, Forced Migration in The Middle East, Resilience and Empowerment, Community-Based Participatory Research