Dr. Mary Nelums
Dr. Mary Nelums is Co-managing partner of Clean Slate Behavioral Health Solutions, LLC and was one of the premier faculty for Jackson State University School of Social Work masters and Ph.D. programs in social work. She has been a faculty member and administrator in higher education for over thirty years. She retired from Jackson State University School of Social Work in 2007. She earned her Master of Social Work and Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Jane Addams School of Social Work in Chicago, Illinois. Further, she had a very active private practice that focused on women and relationships.
After her retirement, she founded the Mary S. Nelums Foundation. The Foundation awards financial scholarships to master level social work students. The foundation has awarded over $20,000 in scholarships. In 2015, the foundation adopted a third grade class in Jackson Public School that will be followed until they go to college or choose a career path. The scholars receive critical thinking, self-esteem, problem-solving and social skills training. They are also provided with an exposure trip at the end of every school year.
She has further devoted her passion and time to working with the elderly (with a focus on Alzheimer/dementia). She is a sought after speaker in the area of aging and caregiving.
Dr. Olga Osby
Dr. Olga Osby is the co-managing partner of Clean Slate Behavioral Health Solutions, LLC. Until recently, she was a full professor and Associate Dean of the School of Social Work at Barry University in Miami, Florida. She has previously served as the Interim Associate Dean at Jackson State University’s School of Social Work in Jackson, Mississippi, and was on faculty there for 13 years. She received her Master of Social Work (MSW) and Doctor of Social Work (DSW) degrees from Howard University in Washington, DC. She has also served as a faculty member and Director of Field Instruction at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Jane Addams College of Social Work, and as the Chair of the Department of Social Work at Mississippi Valley State University.
Dr. Osby’s practice and research interests include African-American women in rural communities, poverty and economic inequality, financial capability and asset building for low-wealth families, and kinship care among African American grandfathers. She has made numerous professional conference presentations and has a number of journal and book chapter publications. While on faculty at Jackson State University, Dr. Osby was awarded the 2013-2015 Distinguished Professor Endowed Chair Award through Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. for $220,000, to fund her research on African-American grandfathers.
Dr. Osby has been acknowledged for excellence in teaching and research, as well as presented with the Inabel Burns Lindsay Alumni Award, named after the founding Dean of Howard University School of Social Work, for her work in community organizing.