Shantel Thomas

Social Worker and Course Lead

Shantel Thomas is the course lead for our MA in Social Work (M23) and the Anti-Racism Lead at the British Association of Social Workers (BASW). As course lead, she has the joint responsibility (with UEL lead) to ensure our students are equipped with the skills, knowledge and reflective capacity to practice as an effective social worker.

Since 2006, she has worked in direct practice, safeguarding children facing adverse childhood experiences and has a particular interest in work with vulnerable children and those from black and diverse communities. Shantel has co-written a chapter entitled ‘Risk and Safety: a strength-based perspective in working with black families when there are safeguarding concerns’ in Social Work in a Diverse Society: Transformative practice with black and ethnic minority individual and communities and contributed her practice knowledge to a book entitled – Safeguarding Black Children.

In her Anti-Racism Lead role, Shantel works collaboratively with BASW members, colleagues and senior stakeholders to support the delivery of the equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) strategy – alongside exploring how anti-racist practice can be developed and implemented across the social work sector.

Shantel is a senior academic and doctoral researcher, who’s thesis is investigating how we embed Anti-Racist Leadership into the heart of Social Work and uses her position, passion, personal and professional ‘living’ experience of racism and oppression to be the voice for the ‘unheard’ and to represent the needs of diverse communities using a strength-based lens.