National Association of Social Workers Foundation

NASW honors the life and legacy of NASW Social Work Pioneer® and civil rights legend, Dr. Dorothy Irene Height, 1912-2010. Dr. Height is the recipient of the 2009 NASW Lifetime Achievement Award. Click here for Dr. Height’s Pioneer biography celebrating her long and extraordinary life of service.


Ella James, left and NASW Social Work Pioneer® Vivian L. Smith, attend a service for Dorothy Height at Shiloh Baptist Church in Washington.

Your support for The NASW Foundation helps us to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through programs that strengthen the social work profession. Please click here to make a secure online gift.  Thank you for the difference you make each day, and thank you for your support. 

The National Association of Social Workers Foundation (NASWF) is a charitable organization created to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through the advancement of social work practice.

Founded in 2001, the Foundation's goals are to:  

• identify, develop and respond to social work policy and practice issues.
• assist with rapid response to social crises.
• support practice-based research, so that practice and research are directly linked.
• raise the visibility of social work and enhance public esteem for the profession.
• support the development of cutting edge continuing education that addresses critical issues.
• promote the appropriate application of new technology to the practice of social work.

The NASW Foundation is managed by a nine-member Board of Directors that comprises the current NASW President, three NASW members, and three individuals involved in professions other than social work. Nonvoting members of the board include the NASW Executive Director who serves as President of the Foundation and the NASW President-Elect.

The Foundation administers a wide variety of educational and research programs in an effort to fulfill its core mission of enhancing the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through the advancement of social work policy and practice. Foundation assets total more than $3.1 million, including the NASW Foundation Endowment, which is funded by voluntary contributions from NASW members and other supporters.