Barbara Klimek

Affiliate Global Futures Scholar,

Global Futures Scientists and Scholars

FAB S352A Glendale, AZ 85306
Mail code: 3920

Campus: West
‌

Long Bio

Barbara Klimek is a clinical associate professor and master's of social work coordinator in Arizona State University’s School of Social Work. She holds a master's degree in social work from ASU and a master's degree in economics, majoring in econometrics, from Warsaw School of Economics, and a doctorate in economics from the University of Warsaw. She is also the director of the Office of Global Social Work, senior sustainability scientist with the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS), and affiliate faculty member with the master's of social justice and human rights program at ASU.

Prior to joining the faculty at ASU, she was an assistant professor in the Department of Economics at the University of Warsaw, where she was engaged in research and teaching in the areas of economics and econometrics. She came to ASU with 25 years of experience working in social service agencies. She has many years of practice experience in generalist case management, program design, implementation, evaluation and monitoring in social service organizations. Klimek’s research agenda is related to issues of cultural diversity, specifically refugees and immigrants, as well as international social work.

Education

Ph.D. Economics, University of Warsaw
M.A. Economics (Econometrics), Warsaw School of Economics
M.S.W. Arizona State University

Curriculum Vitae

Publications

Articles:

Carlson, B. E., Cacciatore, J., Klimek, B. (2012). A Risk and Resilience Perspective on Unaccompanied Refugee Minors. Social Work. Journal of the National Association of Social Workers. Volume 57, Number 3, pages 259-269, first published online August 30, 2012
Cacciatore, J., Carlson, B., Michaelis, E., Klimek, B., Steffan, S. (2011). Crisis intervention by social workers in Fire Departments: An innovative role for social workers. Social Work. Journal of the National Association of Social Workers. Volume 56, Number 1, pages 81-88.

Book & Book Chapters

Kovacevic, Z., Klimek, B., Drower, I. (2017). Refugee Children and Parental Involvement in School Education A Field-Model. In Norris, K. and Collier-Stewart, S. (Eds.) Social Justice and Parent Partnerships in Multicultural Education. IGI Global, Hershey, Pennsylvania (USA).Passed the peer editorial review in final publisher review.
Klimek, B. (2011). Case Management Manual: The application of social work principles, ethics, and the case management approach in service delivery to refugees. Department of Migration and Refugee Services. United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C.

Research Activity

2016-2017

2016 American with Disabilities ACT (ADA) Anniversary Program: University of Minnesota’s Partnership with India, Kazakhstan, Armenia, and Ukraine. Institute of Community Integration, University of Minnesota (UMN). Funding from the US Department of State (USDOS) Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. $21,500.(PI; Consultant)

Listening to Refugees: Engaging with Arizona Refugee Communities. (Facilitator). Institute for Humanities Research. Arizona State University (ASU). Joint project with English Department at ASU. $1,000.

Refugee Health Partnership. Community of Care grant. (Principal Investigator). Dignity Health Community Grants program in Arizona. $15,000 (PI).

Refugee Health Partnership. (Principal Investigator). Echo-Media Grant. $11,000 (PI).

2015-2016

Refugee Health Partnership. Community of Care grant. (Principal Investigator). Dignity Health Community Grants program in Arizona. $10,000 (PI).

2014-2016

Provide Technical Assistance to nine (9) Ethnic Community Based Organizations (ECBOs) in Maricopa and Pima Counties to advance a Social Entrepreneurship Integration Program (SIEP) –Pilot Project – 3rd year grant (Principal Investigator). DES, Refugee Resettlement Program (DES RRP). $431,242. (PI)

2013-2014

Provide Technical Assistance to nine (9) Ethnic Community Based Organizations (ECBOs) in Maricopa and Pima Counties to help design, develop, and deliver culturally and linguistically competent orientations to refugees, and to help to develop organizational capacity and sustainability for ECBOs participating in the project - Pilot Project – 2nd year grant (Principal Investigator). DES, Refugee Resettlement Program (DES RRP). $291,000. (PI)

2013-2014

Assessing Mental Health Among Arizona’s Refugees (Co-Investigator). ASU, College of Public Programs, Strategic Research Investment Funds. $20,000

2012-2013

Develop, design, and conduct specialized case management trainings for refugee service providers in Arizona (Principal Investigator). DES, Refugee Resettlement Program (DES RRP). $86,000 (PI)

2012-2013

Provide Technical Assistance to five (5) Ethnic Community Based Organizations (ECBOs) in Maricopa and Pima Counties to help design, develop, and deliver culturally and linguistically competent orientations to refugees - Pilot Project (Principal Investigator). DES, Refugee Resettlement Program (DES RRP). $291,000. (PI)

Courses

2026 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
SWG 693	Applied Project

2024 Fall

Course Number	Course Title
SWU 462	Global Social Welfare
SWU 462	Global Social Welfare
SWG 562	Global Social Welfare
SWG 562	Global Social Welfare

2024 Spring

Course Number	Course Title
SWU 413	Field Instruction Seminar

Presentations

Klimek, B. (2017). Social Worker’s Role in Integration of Students with Special Needs into a School System. Workshop presented at International Association of Special Education (IASE), 15th Biennial 2017 Conference: Addressing the Exceptional Needs of the Whole Child and Young Adult: Embracing the Future. June 25-29, 2017. Perth, Australia.
Donovan, S. Klimek, B (2107). Resettlement and Integration. Technical Assistance Workshop under the EURITA project sponsored by the USDOS and IRC. Presented tolocal and national government representatives, civil society organizations, providers of legal aid and social services, faith leaders, volunteer organizations and potential employers, refugee advocates and influencers of policy. April 5-6, 2017. Belgrade, Serbia
Donovan, S. Klimek, B (2107). Resettlement and Integration Technical Assistance Workshop under the EURITA project sponsored by the USDOS and IRC. Presented tolocal and national government representatives, civil society organizations, providers of legal aid and social services, faith leaders, volunteer organizations and potential employers, refugee advocates and influencers of policy. April 11-13, 2017. Zagreb, Croatia.
Klimek, B. (2017). Community Development Model: Application for Developing Community Programs. Keynote lecture for Challenges of Humanities in the 21st Century series organized by Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program of SWPS University of Social Sciences and Humanities. January, 2017, Warsaw, Poland.
Androff, D., Fike, C. & Klimek, B. (2017). Burmese refugees in the US: Overcoming oppression and division through community participation. 21st Annual Conference of the Society for Social Work and Research. January, 2017. New Orleans, LA.
Klimek, B., (2016). Program Planning, Design, and Evaluation for Social Workers. 4-day educational workshop for faculty of the MSW programs from the Chinese Universities. June 20 – 24, 2016, Wuhan, China.
Klimek, B., Samb, P., Community Development Model: Application for Developing Community Programs. Workshop presented for participants of the Mandela YALI Leadership Academy, Arizona State University (ASU), June 29, 2016, Flagstaff, Arizona.
Klimek, B., (2016). Case Management/Administration Training for Refugee Service Providers. 2-day workshop presented to refugee service providers at the Tennessee Refugee Resettlement Program. August 3 -5, 2016, Nashville, Tennessee.
Klimek, B., Abdalla, M., Takwe, H., (2016). Community Development Model: Application for Developing Community Programs. Workshop presented at Youth Agribusiness, Leadership and Entrepreneurship (YALESI) Summit on Innovation, GYIN Biennial Conference: Youth Capacities to Fight Hunger and Create Employment Opportunities. March 29 – 31, 2016. Dakar, Senegal.
Merie, K., Fike, C., Androff, D., Cheung, J., & Klimek, B. (2016). Refugees' perceptions of social entrepreneurship: A new model of integration, sustainability and community empowerment. Poster session presented at the Society for Social Work and Research Annual Conference, January 2016, Washington DC.
Klimek, B. (2015). School Social Worker Model for Integration of Students with Disability into School System. Workshop presented at International Association of Special Education (IASE), 14th Biennial Conference: New Dimensions toward Education, Advocacy, and Collaboration for Individuals with Special Needs. June 21-25, 2015. Wroclaw, Poland.
Klimek, B. (2015). EU Refugee Crisis: Solution Oriented Pilot Program – case of Poland. Invited presentation at GIOS Directorate meeting. October 2, 2015. ASU, Tempe, AZ
Klimek, B. (2015). ECBOs – Project Overview. Presentation at DES, RRP, Quarterly Meeting. September 22, 2015. Phoenix, AZ
Klimek, B. (2015). ECBOs – Project Overview. Presentation at GIOS Neighborhood Group meeting. September 28. 2015. ASU, Tempe, AZ
Klimek, B. (2015). Refugee Empowerment project. Panel presentation/participation at ASU Entrepreneurship and Innovation Network-shop. October 26, 2015. ASU, SkySong, Scottsdale, AZ.
Klimek, B. (2015). Engaging Refugee Communities: Technical Assistance to Ethnic Community Based Organizations. Workshop presented at Innovations in Sustainable Food Systems: Improving Youth Engagement and Entrepreneurship on the Farm and Beyond Conference, May 4-6, 2015, ASU, Tempe, AZ
Androff, D.K., Fike, D.C., Klimek, B. (2015). Empowering refugees through communitypractice. Paper presentation at the Council on Social Work Education Annual Program Meeting. October 15 – 18, 2015. Denver, CO.
Androff, D.K., Klimek, B., Samb, P., and Fike, D.C. (2015). Social entrepreneurship with refugees: A model for refugee empowerment, community integration, and sustainability. Paper presentation at the 19th International Symposium for the International Consortiumfor Social Development. July 7 – 10, 2015. Singapore.
Aggarwal, R. M., Budruk, M., Bugental, S., Drower, I and Klimek, B. (2015). Cross cultural exchanges towards global change: Engaging youth with food and water challenges. Presentation at the Balance-Unbalance 2015 International Conference: Water, Climate, Place – Reimagining Environments, March 25-29, 2015, Tempe, AZ.
Fike, D.C., Shimansky, S., Androff, D.K., and Klimek, B. (2015). Empowering refugee communities: A qualitative analysis of a grassroots capacity-building model. Paper presentation at the Society for Social Work and Research 19th Annual Conference. January 14 – 18, 2015. New Orleans, LA.

Honors / Awards

Nominated for the President’s Medal for Social Embeddedness. ASU Employee Recognition. ASU, Tempe, AZ, 2014 and 2015
Certificate of Appreciation for participation as facilitator, presenter and coordinator in the Second International Training Workshop for Community Leaders from Developing Countries, “Gandhi Teerth”, Jain Hills, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India, 2013.
Certificate of Appreciation in recognition of the extraordinary leadership, vision and generosity in playing a vitally important role in assisting and empowering the Somali American Refugee Community of Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona, 2013
Certificate of Appreciates for being a presenter and moderator at the International Training Workshop for Community Leaders from Developing Countries, Jalgaon, Maharashtra, India, 2012
Polish government's Chief of Main Bureau of Statistics award for second best doctoral dissertation, 1980
Warsaw University's Rector Award for the best doctoral dissertation, 1979

Graduate Faculties / Mentoring History

Chair for the Master Thesis for Elizabeth Mody, student in Master’s program: MSW, School of Social Work, CPSCS, ASU, Downtown campus. MS Thesis: Refugee Self-Sufficiency and Integration into the Community. The committee chair: Dr. Barbara Klimek, ASU, School of Social Work, and committee members: Joanne Morales, MSW, Director of Refugee Programs, Catholic Charities, Phoenix, Arizona. Thesis in progress, 2017.
Committee member for Master Thesis for Zayar Lynn, Fulbright Scholar, student in Master’s program: MSW, School of Social Work, CPSCS, , ASU, Downtown campus. MS Thesis: Ecology of Adolescent Risk and Protective Factors that Contribute to Academic Success in Myanmar. The committee chair: Dr. Judy Krysik, ASU, School of Social Work, and committee members: Dr. Barbara Klimek, ASU, School of Social Work, and Joanne Morales, MSW, Director of Refugee Programs, Catholic Charities, Phoenix, Arizona. Thesis in progress, 2017.
Committee member for Master Thesis for Sachini Weerawardena, student in Master’s program: MA Social Justice and Human Rights at ASU West Campus. MS Thesis: The Dual Victimization of Failed Asylum Seekers in the United States: Repatriations and Human Rights. The committee chair: Professor Evelyn Cruz, ASU Law School, and committee members: Dr. Julie Murphy Erfani, New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, and Dr. Michael Forrest, New College of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences. Thesis completed 2016.
Chair for Honor’s Thesis for Clinton Reiswig, student in Barrett Honor’s College at ASU, Downtown campus. Honor’s Thesis: Social Cohesion of Refugee Youth in School Communities. The committee members: Dr. Marek Wosinski, Pape Samb. Consultant: Dr. Luis Zayas. Thesis completed 2015.
Committee member for Master Thesis for Kassaw Merie, student in Master’s program at ASU, Downtown campus, School of Social Work. MS Thesis: Resettlement and Self-sufficiency: Refugees’ Perception of Social Entrepreneurship in Arizona. The committee chair: Dr. David Androff, and committee member: Dr. Judy Krysik. Thesis completed 2015.
Committee member for Applied project for Monique Cleary, student in Master’s program at ASU, West campus, Master of Social Justice and Human Rights program. AP: Path to Empowerment: Eliminating the Childcare Obstacle for Refugee Women. The committee Chair: Dr. Sharon Kirsch, and committee member: Dr. Julie Murphy Erfani. AP completed 2015.
Committee member for Master Thesis for Mohamed Abdalla, student in Master’s program at ASU Tempe campus, Center for Biology and Society. MS Thesis: Beyond Healthcare disparity: Why Sub-Saharan Africa is still overwhelmed with HIV/AIDS. The committee chair: Dr. Jason Robert, and committee member: Dr. Bertram Jacobs. Thesis completed 2014.
PhD committee member for PhD dissertation for Emily Bogusch, student in the PhD program at ASU Tempe campus, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Counseling Psychology. The Ph.D. Thesis: Identity development of adolescent minority girls at an urban high school. The committee chair and advisor, Dr. Kathryn Nakagawa, and committee members, Dr. Beth Swadener, and Dr. Angela Arzubiaga. Dissertation in progress. (Note: It has been a change in dissertation title and composition of the Committee from last year).
Committee member for Barrett Honor College Thesis for Anna Bethancourt, student in Barrett Honor College at ASU, Tempe campus. The Thesis: Textual Representations of Citizenship in Arizona: A look at local Migrants. The committee chair, Dr. Elizabeth Larson. Dissertation completed 2011.
Committee member for Master Thesis for Heather Wheeler in the MSW program in School of Social Work, College of Public Programs, ASU, Downtown campus The Master Thesis: Sexuality & Religion: How Devoutly Religious Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual Individuals Manage the Relationship Between their Sexuality and their Religion. The committee chair and advisor, Dr. Karen Gerdes, and the committee member, Dr. Elizabeth Segal. Thesis completed 2013.
PhD committee member for PhD dissertation for Adama Sallu, student in the PhD program at ASU Tempe campus, Mary Lou Fulton School of Education. The Ph.D. Thesis: Schooling Experiences and Perceptions of Sub-Saharan African Refugee Middle School Students in Arizona. The committee chair and advisor, Dr. Beth Swadener, and committee member, Dr. Lynn Miller. Dissertation completed 2012.
PhD committee member for PhD dissertation for Emily Bogusch, student in the PhD program at ASU Tempe campus, Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, Counseling Psychology. The Ph.D. Thesis: “My life is so not interesting” Identity development of adolescent minority girls at an urban high school. Dr. Kathryn Nakagawa, the committee chair and advisor, and committee members: Dr. Angela Arzubiaga and Dr. Beth Swadener Dissertation completed 2016.

Service

Expert in the Sustainability Transition Consulting (SusTranCon). 2015 – present
Member of the International Association of Special Education (IASE). 2015 – present
Member of the National Deans and Directors of Social Work Admission (nddSWA). 2015 - present
Advisory Board Member , Halsten Enterprise, 2014 – present
Board Member on the Board of Directors for the ASU University-Community Partnerships for Social Action Research (UCP-SARnet), serving in capacity of the Associate Director for EmPeace LABs project, 2013 – present
Member of the ASU University-Community Partnerships for Social Action Research (UCP-SARnet), 2012 – present
Member of the Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability (GIOS) at ASU, 2014 - present
Member of the North American and Caribbean Association of Schools of Social Work (NACASSW), 2012 – present
Advisor to Phi Alpha Honor Society – Theta Tau Chapter, at ASU Downtown campus, 2009 - 2013
Advisor to the International Student Organization - INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS - MOSAIC Club at ASU, Downtown Campus, 2013 - present
Chair of the MSW Foundation Committee, 2009 - present
Member of PAC Committee at SSW, 2009 - present
Member of Curriculum Committee at SSW, 2009 - present
Member of the Faculty Council at SSW, 2009 - present
Member of the Council of Social Work Education (CSWE), 2009 - present

Expertise Areas

Immigration

Sustainability

Refugee Studies

Study Abroad and Intercultural Competencies

Social Entrepreneurship

Econometric Modeling

Global Development

Applied Macroeconomics

Social Work