Namicheishvili Salome, MSW, Chairperson, Founder

Ms. Namicheishvili is a Ph. D. candidate, a graduate with a Master of Science degree in Social Work (majoring in social administration and planning) from Columbia University in the city of New York in 2003.

Ms. Namicheishvili has 10 years experience in childcare and community based social service development, five of which have been involved in the design, preparation, delivery and evaluation of various training modules in the field of social work and community based social assistance. As well as being experienced in management she is experienced as a provider of technical advice on issues related to the planning, implementation and evaluation of social work services.

Her social work experience, both in Georgia and United States, involves working in the field of child care, social housing, juvenile offenders, mental health and community development. An active participant in multiple working groups and projects related to her areas of expertise, Ms. Namicheishvili developed a number of manuals/guidelines in the fields of social work regulation, child care, social work training, and social work practice teaching. She has been collaborating with Bachelor and Master of Social Work Programs at Tbilisi Ivane Javakhishvili State University and Ilia State University as an inviting lecturer to lead social work concentration with children, youth and families, as well as to establish and develop social work practice learning and teaching component.

Ms. Namicheishvili is committed to the social work profession development in Georgia in her role as a founder and a current chairperson of Georgian Association of Social Workers. Since 2008 she has been involved in the field of social work professional and practice development as an international consultant in the former soviet republics.

Read More (CV)

Ushveridze Marina, MPA, MSW, Board Member, Founder

Ms. Marina Ushveridze graduated with Master’s degree in Social Work from George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University in St. Louis in 2003. She holds Master’s degree in Public Administration from Georgian-American Institute of Public Administration and a degree in Sociology from Tbilisi State University.

Marina Ushveridze has over 10 years of experience in social work, in the fields of education and social development, and in design, implementation, management and evaluation of programs to meet the needs of vulnerable populations. Ms. Ushveridze’s endeavors both in Georgia and in the United States, have been focused on the fields such as children and families, unemployed, individuals with disabilities, children affected by conflict, victims of violence and social marketing for health (through her endeavors at Population Services International, Booz-allen & Hamilton, UN Headquarters in NYC and at St. Louis Metropolitan Rehabilitation and Employment Services).

Marina provided leadership to Children’s Tolerance Education Program at Save the Children Georgia. In the framework of this project, the renowned tolerance and social skills educational program and curriculum was developed, which is widely used in many public schools of Georgia. This program was selected for the 2009 Compendium of Good Practices in Human Rights Education, published by OSCE, UNHCHR, Council of Europe and UNESCO.

Marina Ushveridze has also initiated the development of the first school social work training program in Georgia.

Currently Marina works at PH International as the Director of Applied Civic Education and Teacher Training Program, which aims to enhance civic education in schools of Georgia, train teachers nationwide and promote participation of youth in the democratic processes.

Ms. Ushveridze is involved in the development of Social Work Profession in Georgia through her role in the Georgian Association of Social Workers as a Founder and Board Member.

Read More (CV)

Shatberashvili Nino, MSW , Board Member, Founder

Nino Shatberashvili is a founder and board member of the Georgian Association of Social Workers. The association was found in 2005 and currently is the only professional organization in the country.

Ms. ShatberaSvili is a doctoral student of the international doctoral program in social work and social policy, INDOSOW. Her research interest is focused on the role of social services in poverty reduction.

Ms. Shatberashvili graduated with a Master of Science degree in Social Work from Columbia University in the city of New York in 2004: Major in Social Work, with Social Policy concentration, Minor in International Social Welfare.

Her social work experience, both in Georgia and the United States, involves working with children and their families in out-of-home-care service programs and on deinstitutionalization policy, street children, women, international adoption issues, standards of accreditation of social service agencies. In 2005 she conducted a social research to reveal the indicators promoting to develop enabling policy towards the people with intellectual disabilities in Georgia.

Ms. Shatberashvili actively participated in the development of BA and MA education programs in Social Work in Georgia, both at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and Ilia Chavchavadze Tbilisi State Universities to BA and MA students. Currently she leads social work regionalization component in EU TEMPUS Advancing the Three Cycle System in Social Work Education in Six European Countries Project (ACES). Simultaneously she is an assistant-professor at Tbilisi State Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and is Practice Placement Coordination of Social Work faculty students. She teaches Social Welfare Policy, International Social Welfare, International Social Work and Social Advocacy Courses both at Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University and Ilia Chavchavadze Tbilisi State Universities to BA and MA students.

Sadzaglishvili Shorena, MSW, PhD, Board Member, Founder

Ms. Sadzaglishvili graduated with a Master of Science degree in Social Work (majoring in social research and program evaluation) from Columbia University in the city of New York in 2003. She received her PhD degree in Psychology from the Institute of Psychology Georgian Academy of Science in March, 2005. In addition, she enhanced her education in Psychometrics, Educational Measurements and Assessment at the Institute for Educational Measurement (CITO) in the Netherlands and at the Institute for international Pedagogical resaerch (DIPF) in Germany from 2008 to 2010.

Her experience includes educational, social and health program development, implementation, supervision, monitoring and evaluation as well as teaching and curriculum development. She held positions and internships in state, international and non-governmental organizations, and universities. As associate professor, she is currently directing MSW program and practice teaching and leading courses at Ilia State University, Faculty of Master and Doctoral Studies and Institute for Knowledge Economy.

Ms. Sadzaglishvili has over 15 years experience in social research and program evaluation. Her research expertise involves different fields such as children and families, mental health, drug addiction, health behavior, ADHD, IDP issues, school problems, etc. Her recent published research papers are focused on teaching and learning, self-competence, school culture, learning-to-learn, students’ assessment, etc. Her articles are published in the peer-reviewed journals and her papers are presented at the International conferences and congresses.

Sh. Sadzaglishvili has extensive experience in the educational system of Georgia. Her name is related to many reforms undertaken in the secondary schools of Georgia. Last 7 years she worked as a head of the Assessment Unit of the National Curriculum and Assessment Centre and developed national assessment framework and tools for the state schools of Georgia.

In 2006 Ms. Sadzaglishvili founded the first master of social work program in Georgia. She developed number of manuals/guidelines in the fields of clinical social work, family and children, program design and evaluation, social work research, and social work practice teaching.

Her social work experience, both in Georgia and United States, involves working in the field of mental health, child care, school social work and community development.