HBCU L.E.A.P. Leadership
Shena Leverett Brown, Ph.D., LCSW, MAC, CFCS
Director
Dr. Brown grew up in rural Georgia and has been a licensed behavioral health clinician for over 25 years. Her career as a social worker began at an HBCU when she received her BSW degree in 1993 from Clark Atlanta University and graduated with distinction from the Isabella T. Jenkins Honors Program. She worked as a generalist social worker for several years before earning her MSW at the University of Georgia in Athens in 1998. Her post-MSW practice experiences included becoming licensed first as a master social worker (LMSW) and then as a clinical social worker (LCSW) in the state of Georgia and nationally certified as a master addiction counselor (MAC) to provide behavioral health treatment services. She has worked in a variety of clinical settings, across levels of care and age groups, and with populations that include women with young children, veterans, and recovering healthcare professionals. Dr. Brown has provided clinical supervision for associate level clinicians for many years and is now a Certified Foundational Clinical Supervisor in the state of Georgia.
In December 2020, Dr. Brown earned her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia School of Social Work and her graduate certificate in Interdisciplinary Qualitative Studies from the Mary Frances Early College of Education. During her doctoral studies, she was a proud recipient of the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Dissertation Year Award and the 2019 Graduate School Dean’s Award for Social Sciences. Her dissertation research explored the experiences of Black social workers with racial microaggressions in their practice settings. Her ongoing research interests include race-based stress and behavioral health disparities, mental health and substance use disorders recovery, and professional wellness factors among helping professionals.
In January 2021, Dr. Brown joined the faculty of the Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University as an Assistant Professor, where she also coordinates the Integrated Behavioral Health Certificate Program. In 2023, she became the Director of the HBCU Center for Excellence in Behavioral Health (L.E.A.P.- Leadership in Education, Awareness, and Preparation). Her work with this SAMHSA-funded project is aimed at addressing the growing national behavioral health provider shortage and increasing diversity and culturally responsive care.
Charles Jenkins, M.A., M.P.A.
Program Manager
Charles Jenkins is the Program Manager for the SAMHSA-funded HBCU Center for Excellence (HBCU-CFE) in Behavioral Health and HBCU L.E.A.P. initiative, housed in the Whitney M. Young, Jr. School of Social Work at Clark Atlanta University. He has held several appointments providing academic support for college students and managed programs for the HBCU-CFE in Behavioral Health’s initiative, HBCU C.A.R.E.S., from June 2020-October 2023. Mr. Jenkins previously served as the Archival Internship Coordinator and in-house Researcher for the King Library & Archives at The Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change. He has additional experience working with underserved communities seeking mental health and substance abuse treatment.
Mr. Jenkins is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. He received a Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology from Fisk University, where he was awarded the S.O. Roberts Award, and a Master of Public Administration from Clark Atlanta University. Mr. Jenkins has been selected to participate in a variety of achievement-based professional development opportunities including the Association of Blacks in Higher Education’s Rising Leaders Institute and The Studio Museum in Harlem’s Museum Professionals Seminar. In 2024, he was awarded the Emerging Leader Award by his alma mater, Morehouse College. An amalgam of varied interests, you can find him somewhere on the eastside of Atlanta listening to Brazilian jazz and getting into good trouble.
Tiffany Cuthbert, M.Ed., M.N.M., ICPS
Program Manager
Tiffany Cuthbert is a Graduate Assistant with the SAMHSA-funded HBCU Center for Excellence in Behavioral Health at Clark Atlanta University and Founder and Executive Director of Pillars Initiative. Her work centers on behavioral health prevention, community engagement, and strengthening community-based systems that support individuals and families.
Tiffany brings extensive experience in nonprofit leadership, program development, grant and project management, and cross-sector collaboration. Her work spans behavioral health prevention, youth and family engagement, and partnerships with public agencies, schools, providers, and community organizations throughout Georgia.
She holds a Master of Education in Educational Leadership and a Master of Nonprofit Management and is an Internationally Certified Prevention Specialist. Tiffany is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Social Work at Clark Atlanta University, with a concentration in Policy, Planning, and Administration. Her emerging research interests explore organizational leadership, workforce sustainability, and how organizations can better support professionals whose work centers on caring for and serving others.
Her broader interests include behavioral health leadership, higher education, community development, and public and civic leadership.
