Forging Futures, Building a Pipeline: Testimonios From a Collective of Diverse MFP Alums in the Southwest

For 50 years, the Minority Fellowship Program (MFP) has supported social workers in serving diverse communities at risk of mental health issues and substance misuse, training over 1,000 masters and doctoral-level fellows, and preparing them for meaningful community engagement. Through testimonios, we explore the career paths, collaborations, and community involvement of five doctoral-level MFP alums working at a large public R1 university in the Southwest. Reflecting as MFP alums and diverse faculty of color, our testimonios bear witness to MFP’s influence on our antiracist, antioppressive, and decolonial work, our mentorship and recruitment of graduate students of color, and our efforts to build a diverse student pipeline to address mental health and substance misuse within marginalized racial and ethnic communities.