BSW, MSW, Bridgewater State University
PhD, University of Massachusetts Boston
Dr. Hannah Taverna (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at Bridgewater State University’s School of Social Work and a proud BSU alumna. She began her undergraduate studies in elementary education, but a volunteer tutoring placement with a child experiencing homelessness redirected her path toward social work, leading her to earn her BSW and MSW at BSU and later a PhD in Global Inclusion and Social Development from UMass Boston. Her research and practice interests include migration, displacement, and human rights; child welfare and missing and exploited children; and international and cross-border social work, including her dissertation research on unaccompanied refugee minors aging out of U.S. systems of care. She is a Licensed Certified Social Worker (LCSW) with more than a decade of practice experience; she most recently served as Program Manager of the statewide Missing/Absent Child Program at the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families, continues to conduct cross-border home assessments for International Social Service–USA to help reunite families, and serves as volunteer Executive Director of International Social Work Solutions, Inc. Dr. Taverna’s teaching is grounded in anti-oppressive practice and trauma-informed pedagogy, drawing directly on her casework and research.