Dr. Sylvia Bekele is the Assistant MSW Program Director at Eastern University. Dr. Bekele is a licensed social worker with over 10 years of experience in child welfare, foster care and adoption, trauma informed practices, equine assisted therapeutic techniques, social work in international contexts, and social work in urban schools. She has earned a Human Services Management Certificate from The Network for Social Work Management and a School Social Work, Educational Specialist Certificate through the PA Department of Education. Dr. Bekele has a passion for coming alongside social work students as they develop in their professional identities as social workers and a strong belief in the healing power of relationships.

In addition to teaching, Dr. Bekele enjoys spending time with her family and loved ones. She is active in her church, St. Monica & St. Augustine’s Coptic Orthodox Church in Elizabethtown, PA. Dr. Bekele serves as the Executive Director of KIND Association, a nonprofit organization in Elizabethtown, PA that seeks to meet the needs of the local community. She also serves as the Vice President for PASSWP and as a professional and scientific associate for the Center for the Study of School Social Work.