Anna Stelter
Anna Stelter

Master’s student Anna Stelter, has been awarded the 2016 Social Work Student of the Year by the Capital Area Branch of the National Association of Social Workers Texas Chapter (NASW/Texas).

This award honors a student member of NASW/Texas who is enrolled in a graduate or undergraduate social work program during the year of the award and has made an outstanding contribution to the goals and mission of the profession.

“Anna is deeply committed to social justice and cultural humility. Her commitment to social justice around public health issues has led her to pursue a dual graduate degree with public health. She has the dedication, drive, and talent needed to a highly successful social worker,” said clinical faculty Cossy Hough, who oversees Stelter’s at her current field placement in the Texas Health Institute.

At the Texas Health Institute, Stelter has joined the Health Equity team, where she has been involved in analysis of the Affordable Care Act’s impact on health care access and outcomes for diverse populations.

“Ms. Stelter’s contributions have included extensive research on efforts to increase health insurance enrollment among hard-to-reach groups, advocating for evidence-informed safety net delivery system transformation, and developing metrics to measure progress toward reducing health disparities. Recently, she has engaged with nationally recognized experts and advocates around the unique health needs of veterans and the LGBTQ population to inform future health policy efforts in Texas and the nation,” said Camille Miller, President/CEO of the Texas Health Institute in a recent release.

Stelter holds a bachelor of arts degree in anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis, where she received the Service in Anthropology award. She is a 2011 alumnus of Teach For America, and has over a decade of collective volunteer service for the American Cancer Society and Teach For America Austin and San Antonio Regional Alumni. In May 2016, Stelter will graduate with a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health, and a Master of Science in Social Work degree from the University of Texas at Austin.

Founded in 1955, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is the largest organization of professional social workers in the world, with over 155,000 members in 55 chapters. The Texas chapter, with nearly 6,000 members, is the major professional social work organization in the state. The Capital Area Branch of NASW/Texas serves eight Central Texas counties (Bastrop, Blanco, Burnet, Caldwell, Fayette, Hays, Lee, Llano, Travis, & Williamson) and includes three Schools of Social Work. NASW is committed to advancing professional social work practice and the profession; and to promoting human rights, social and economic justice, and unimpeded access to services for everyone.