Katherine Miller

Katherine Miller, M.A., is an affiliate professor in the Gender Institute for Teaching and Advocacy at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is an award-winning activist and educator, with extensive experience in victim advocacy for survivors of interpersonal violence and human trafficking.

In addition to teaching undergraduate students at MSU Denver, Miller also serves as the Victim Services Coordinator at the Phoenix Center at Auraria (PCA), supervises the Colorado Network to End Human Trafficking (CoNEHT) statewide hotline and serves as an active board member for the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (LCHT). She has provided prevention education through the Blue Bench, trauma therapy at the Aurora Strong Resilience Center, psychoeducation and process groups with women in rural Southern India living with HIV, and provided direct services to students in crisis at the Institute for Women’s Studies and Services. Miller is committed to infusing intersectional feminism and praxis into advocacy work at the PCA, building campus coalitions to support survivors, and dismantling systems and cultural norms that perpetuate violence.

Miller earned her master’s in International Disaster Psychology from University of Denver and a bachelor’s in Psychology, Women’s Studies and History from Metropolitan State University of Denver.

Shawna Margesson

Shawna Margesson, Ph.D., is a lecturer in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

She has over 20 years of experience in the areas of international social work, program evaluation and the nongovernmental sectors both in the United States and globally. Margesson runs her own consulting business called LotusOak Counseling, LLC. She has taught in Colorado, California and abroad in South Africa, Belize, China and Ireland/Northern Ireland. Margesson joined MSU Denver in 2018.

Her passion for the peer to peer movement in mental health has led her to serve local nonprofits in mental health equity. Margesson served on the Behavioral Transformation Council for the Governor of Colorado representing peers in behavioral health. She was also a policy committee member for Mental Health America of Colorado and mentor for VISTA members for Corporation for National and Community Service. Her current research interests include international mental health, first generation college learners and program evaluation in mental health.

Margesson received her doctorate in social work from University of Denver in 2011, a master’s in advanced generalist social work practice from Colorado State University in 2001 and a bachelor’s in philosophy from Humboldt State University in 1995.

Christian Itin

Christian Itin, Ph.D., is a professor in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Itin has over 30 years of experience working in the field as a senior counselor, clinical program director, substance abuse/mental health intervention specialist and various teaching positions. He has been teaching at MSU Denver since 2012 and was chair of the Department of Social Work 2012-15.

Itin has also been teaching at Humboldt State University as professor emeritus since 2012. He is the past president of the Association for Experiential Education. Itin co-wrote and funded several grants; and has been a keynote speaker and presented at many events around the world. He launched the online Master of Social Work program at Humboldt State and has been actively involved in the development of MSU Denver’s online Bachelor of Social Work and Master of Social Work program.

In addition, Itin has a long history of community service involvement. Currently, he is a member of the Strategic Action Planning Group on Aging, a member of the Association for Experiential Education, a member of Adventure Therapy International Committee and a committee member on the Institutional Review Board at MSU Denver. His research interests include group process, leadership, wilderness therapy, adventure therapy and experiential practice. Itin has published many articles over the years. His most recent publications are “Adventure Therapy: Nondeliberative Group Work in Action” for Social Work with Groups journal and “The nature and meaning of adventure therapy” for Connecting with the Essence of Adventure Therapy book.

Itin received his doctorate in social work and a master of social work from University of Denver in 1997 and 1987 respectively and a bachelor of social work from Cornell University in 1984.

Tony Hernandez

Tony Hernandez, MSW, is an affiliate professor in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University of Denver. His areas of expertise include housing and community, and economic development. He currently teaches graduate courses that include Social Policy Analysis, Advanced Integrative Practice: Clinical, and Advanced Policy and Advocacy.

Prior to joining MSU Denver, Hernandez worked on a presidential appointment as an administrator of Rural Housing Services for the United States Department of Agriculture. He was also the director of the Division of Local Government for the State of Colorado. Hernandez served five terms as a Colorado state representative. He is currently the president and CEO of Innovative Action Consulting on the Community, Housing and Economic Development team, where he provides consulting services in policy work, nonprofit training and more.

Hernandez has been recognized for his extensive community involvement and advocacy work. He has won the Excellence in Leadership Award from Rural Housing Services, the Housing and Urban Development Secretary’s Leadership Award, the HUD Secretary’s Customer Service Award and the Good Guys Award from the Colorado Women’s Political Caucus for his commitment to political, economic and judicial equality for women, among many others.

Hernandez received a master’s in Management and Public Policy from Carnegie-Mellon University Pittsburgh in 1981, a Master of Social Work from the University of Denver in 1975 and a bachelor’s in Social Work from Colorado State University in 1973. He is also a certified Housing Development Finance Professional, granted by the National Development Council in 2003.

Tanya Greathouse

Tanya Greathouse, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

In addition to teaching at MSU Denver, she also serves as a faculty field advisor and affiliate associate professor in the Department of Social Work at Smith College School and a private psychotherapy practitioner in the Denver/Boulder area. Her foundation of cultural competency is informed by her teaching curriculums and multicultural trainings. Greathouse holds certifications in Administrator and Interpreter for the Intercultural Developmental Inventory and QPR Gatekeeper Instruction. She has also completed the American Management Association Managers training and VISIONS Multicultural training.

Greathouse received her doctorate in clinical social work from Smith College, a Master of Social Work from University of Denver and a bachelor’s in sociology from University of Colorado, Boulder.

Elisa Fadum-Montoya

Elisa Fadum-Montoya, MSW, is an affiliate professor in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She has been a licensed clinical social worker for over 20 years and her areas of expertise include working in mental health, crisis interventions, family therapy and child welfare.

Fadum-Montoya has been teaching at MSU Denver since 2014, where she has taught a field experience seminar for graduate students. She has also taught graduate social work courses related to family therapy and undergraduate courses such as Privilege, Oppression and Power. In addition, she also works as a mobile crisis clinical evaluator for Denver Health and Hospitals, where she conducts mobile evaluations of individuals in the community experiencing psychiatric crisis.

Fadum-Montoya was also the clinical director and owner of Bridges Family Services Inc., where she provided clinical supervision and training to a team of clinicians and case managers. She also oversaw service delivery including assessment and interventions, multi-family therapy education classes and parenting/visitation sessions.

Prior, she has worked as a bariatric social worker for Presbyterian/St. Luke’s Medical Center. She performed psychological evaluations for potential bariatric surgery candidates, provided follow up therapy support and facilitated support groups. Fadum-Montoya also worked as a LCSW for Centennial Peaks Hospital, where she performed assessments for people struggling with mental health instability and substance abuse.

Fadum-Montoya received her master of social work from the University of Denver in 1997, and a bachelor’s in human services from the University of Massachusetts in 1991. She also received a certificate in marriage and family therapy from the Denver Family Institute in 2000.

Larry Curry

Larry Curry, Ph.D., LCSW, CAC III is a licensed Clinical Social Worker, and a former professor in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University Denver. He is a national and international speaker trainer and presenter in the areas of child welfare, family preservation service and addictive behaviors. He also specializes in domestic and internal adoptions, and cross cultural adoptions.

He is also the Founder/CEO and Clinical Director for The Curry Center, LLC located in Aurora Colorado. This agency operates as a private outpatient mental health clinic, offering in home services to some of the most troubled families and children within the Denver/ Aurora communities.

Perri Corvino

Perri Corvino, Ph.D., LCSW, LAC is a lecturer in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University of Denver. With over 20 years of experience in the field of mental health, their experience in social work ranges from residential treatment to private practice. Corvino’s expertise includes experiencing and recovering from traumatic events, addiction recovery, supporting and advocating for the LGBTQIA and neurodivergent communities and promoting self-care to counter indirect trauma. Their academic pursuits focus on creating trauma-informed college and university classrooms to counter the oppression and distress faced by students, developing Open Educational Resources, illuminating the lived experience of neurodivergence, and developing an anti-oppressive, trauma-informed approach to social work supervision.

Prior to joining MSU Denver, Corvino volunteered for a crisis hotline and served as a victim’s advocate for people escaping intimate partner violence during their undergraduate studies. Additionally, after completing their master’s degree, Corvino worked in residential, jail, community, and outpatient settings. They owned a private psychotherapy practice until 2018 when they joined the social work program as a full-time lecturer.

Corvino earn a doctorate in social work from Smith College School for Social Work, as well as a master’s in social work and women’s studies from Loyola University Chicago. They completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology from the State University of New York at Potsdam

Annie Butler

Lynann “Annie” Butler is a professor in the Human Services Department and interim chair of the Rita and Navin Dimond Department of Hotel Management at Metropolitan State University of Denver. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), a Certified Addictions Counselor Level III and received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology at Colorado State University and a master’s degree in Counseling from the University of Colorado at Denver.

She founded Professional Counseling Services, Inc. in Denver in 2002, providing a six-week intervention program for students facing suspension from high schools in five different school districts. She has worked in the field since 1991, and has shared her “wisdom, mistakes and humor with students” at MSU Denver since 2002. In 2012, she was the Human Services nominee for the US Professor of the Year Award, and has also received the Teaching Excellence Award from the Faculty Senate at MSU Denver.

On her recent sabbatical, she traveled to Laos to research Hmong refugees and the Hmong Cultural Center in St. Paul, MN, the largest comprehensive museum about the “secret war” in Southeast Asia, which began in 1963. She has recently completed and submitted Walking With Tigers, a book about a Hmong refugee whom she first met while recruiting guest speakers for her classroom.

Jo Daugherty Bailey

Jo Daugherty Bailey, Ph.D., is a professor and program director of Master of Social Work program in the Department of Social Work at Metropolitan State University of Denver.

She joined MSU Denver in January 2013, after teaching as a faculty member at University of Houston-Downtown for over 10 years. Bailey has social work practice experience in adoption, clinical program research and grants management.

Her current research projects include analyses of policy and services for children without parental care in Eastern Europe, models of supervision, and undocumented migrants’ experiences. She has co-written journal articles, including most recently “The Threatening Troika of Populism, Nationalism, and Neoliberalism” in 2018 and “Sobresalir: The Undocumented Experience” in 2016.

Bailey received her doctorate and Master of Social Work from University of Houston and a master’s in sociology from University of Houston-Clear Lake.

;