Keena Friday-Gilbert, MBA,MSW,IECMH-E serves as Director of Belonging for the Association of Infant Mental in Tennessee (AIMHiTN). 

She has nearly 20 years of experience in working with children, families, and their communities through program development and non-profit management          

and seeks to help cultivate systems of inclusion and equity for families in Tennessee.  She obtained her BSW from Oral Roberts University,

her MBA from the University of Phoenix, and her MSW in Organizational Leadership from  the University of Tennessee.  She is currently

 a DSW candidate at the University of Memphis.  Keena desires to focus her research on inequities in early care for children of color.

 

"It is my desire for all children to experience a sense of belonging".

 

 

Email: sbmboge@memphis.edu

 

 

Saja B. Mboge is a Licensed Master Social Worker, a licensed School Social Worker, and a certified Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor.  He is

a second-year doctoral student in the School of Social Work DSW program.  He completed his undergraduate degree in social work at 

Rust College Holly Springs, MS, and his Master of Social Work from Barry University Ellen Whiteside McDonnell School of Social Work.  As a GA,

he taught and worked with a faculty member on research projects. Currently, he works as a licensed social worker for Memphis Shelby County

Schools and a graduate assistant for the School of Social Work at the University of Memphis.  He has taught introduction to social work online and

in person since the Fall of 2021.  Before working with MSCS as a school social worker, he worked as a Child and Adolescent Therapist with Compass

Intervention Center from 2011-2018, a PRN Crisis Specialist with Alliance Healthcare Services from 2015, and a PRN therapist with Vertava Health 

from July 2020 to August 2021.  Mr. Mboge has fifteen years of social work experience in various settings such as residential, hospice, PHP, IOP, crisis,

acute psychiatric hospitals, schools and addiction and recovery.  Mr. Mboge has years of experience with TF-CBT, CBT, and Seven challenges.  

He has experience working with individuals, groups, and families.

 

Mr. Mboge has worked with children and adolescents with a history of emotional dysregulation coupled with psychosocial stressors, anger, conduct issues, truancy,

trauma, grief, academic problems, and poor impulse control.  He has provided therapeutic interventions, such as social skills training, behavior management counseling,

and coping skills to students to help them overcome psychosocial stressors and underlying mental health challenges.  He has provided consultations about classroom

management and co-teaches a  youth mental health first aid course to MCSC staff and other mental health professionals in Memphis to help them recognize signs

of mental health challenges/distress among students and the public.  He has also co-presented suicide prevention to high schoolers within Memphis Shelby County Schools (MSCS).

He has worked with young adults and adults with a history of trauma, grief, co-occurring disorders, substance use disorder, and behavioral health challenges.  Mr. Mboge

has been an acrtive member of the National Association of Social Workers Association (NASW) since 2007.

 

His research interests include how unresolved trauma manifests in other behavioral issues for clients and the normalization of generational trauma.  Other research

interests include the impact of Covid-19 on educational attainment among African American K-12 students in Memphis TN, barriers and access to Mental

Health Care among Veterans, and correlations between trauma and substance use and the use of technology in social work practice.

 

Teaching Philosophy

My teaching is focused on interacting with students to reflect the core values of social work education.  The foundation of my teaching philosophy originates from

fostering an environment where learning becomes the center through interaction and creativity.  In my classroom, the focus is on collective learning and constantly

striving to meet the desired goals.