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When first emigrating from her home country of Fiji, Master of Social Work student Joyti Chand remembers that even from an early age, she was put on a path to help people from different backgrounds and communities. 

That is why Chand decided to return to school to pursue her master’s degree -- and now subsequently her doctorate -- in social work. Chand was recently selected as a recipient of The CSU’s Health Professions Scholars Initiative (HPSI) award, which supports students interested in pursuing advanced training and scholarly careers in health-related disciplines. Chand has been given $5,000 to support a collaborative research and professional development plan to be used to strengthen her preparation as a future leader in the field of social work. 

“I was shocked when I saw the acceptance letter [for the HPSI Scholarship],” Chand said. “The reason I want to go higher and deeper in my education is because I want to be a part of telling the stories of the people that are most impacted by some of the structural issues we face in our community – and what are some of the changes that need to come about. I hope to continue to be a part of that, which is why I am so interested in getting more into research, as well.” 

For the HPSI Scholarship, typical preparation activities for advancement include research activities, conference participation, and graduate preparation – Chand is currently investigating UC Berkeley, USC and UCLA as possible next institutions for pursuing her social work doctorate degree. The scholarship development plan is to be implemented in partnership with the student’s faculty mentor – in this case, for Chand, ������ School of Social Work Assistant Professor Dr. Jason A. Plummer. 

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“We need more social work researchers, like Joyti, who understand that research isn’t about advancing career, it’s about advancing community,” Dr. Plummer said. 

Chand’s early exposure to engage in public health, community-based and social justice work, stemmed from her own experience of growing up in an immigrant family. 

“I grew up in Inglewood in the ‘90s when my family came here from Fiji, so that is a really big part of my history,” Chand said. “Growing up as an immigrant and coming from a working-class background I became aware of common issues facing our society – racism, classism…that led me to working with domestic violence and sexual assault victims in our community.” 

At just 19 years of age, Chand began working as a community organizer and program coordinator for the South Asian Network (SAN), a grassroots, community-based organization addressing issues of public health, civil rights, and intimate partner violence (IPV) in the South Asian community in Southern California. She also obtained her undergraduate degree in sociology from ������. Before coming back to pursue her MSW, Chand worked as a social worker at different levels in her field, including direct services, counseling, advocacy and leading participatory research. Her policy work consisted of analyzing and advocating against post 9-11 policies that Chand says had negative outcomes on civil rights and community health.

Working with many different segments of the population, Chand’s focus has been to assist with crises facing the Asian Pacific Islander (API) and South Asian communities. 

“Little research exists about API and South Asian homeless survivors of intimate partner violence and sexual assault. I want to look at what just and responsible public policies look like for this community, and focus on best social work practices to implement in order to improve outcomes for these communities. My lived and professional experiences, including conducting grassroots, community-based research, give me the knowledge and skills needed to close this gap. It drives my desire to ensure community members are included in research and policies that can improve their life outcomes.”

Chand says she also has the goal of teaching social work, so that she can be a part of shaping the next generation of social workers. Chand raves about the experiences she has had in the ������ School of Social Work program so far. She graduates next Spring. 

“Being in the MSW program has really been a beautiful experience for me,” Chand says. “Part of that is being around so many younger students; hearing their ideas, and just seeing how they express themselves and learning about their experiences…I think that’s the part that is very nice -- and our faculty in the School of Social Work are just so incredibly knowledgeable, as well. Just to have the luxury to be a student here and learn from them is amazing.”