Tami Gouveia
Tami Gouveia is a visionary public health social work leader and policymaker known for her innovative and strategic approach to advancing equity, dignity, and opportunity. With a commitment to transformative change, she empowers communities to challenge systemic barriers and build resilient, inclusive futures through advocacy, collaboration, and forward-thinking solutions.
Tami Gouveia, DrPH, MSW, MPH, is the Paul Farmer Professor of the Practice and Director of the Center for Innovation in Social Work & Health at Boston University School of Social Work, appointed to both roles in 2023. Over a 25-year career spanning social work and public health, she has worked at the intersection of systems thinking, research, policymaking, and change management to drive meaningful change, improve community health outcomes, and advance economic and racial equity.
At the Center, Tami has deepened her commitment to understanding and meeting the needs of the social work profession. She created four intersecting labs — Powerbuilding & Leadership, Social Work Innovation, Health Equity, and Global Social Work & Public Health — and launched the Beyond 2025 Action Hub and the Beyond Defense Summit to help the profession make sense of the political and economic pressures reshaping it. She also leads the Social Work Workforce and Leadership Study and co-leads the Economic Value of Social Work Initiative.
Earlier in her career, Tami held leadership positions across nonprofit, philanthropic, and governmental organizations, including director roles at the Massachusetts State Auditor’s Office, The Rippel Foundation, Tobacco Free Mass, and the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center. Believing in the power of people working together for our shared humanity, she founded and led the Lowell Roundtable on Substance Abuse Prevention and the Massachusetts Chapter of the Women’s March.
Tami was elected to two terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives, where she passed legislation to support people with substance use disorder, defend reproductive justice and LGBTQ+ rights, advance housing and climate justice, reform education funding and the criminal legal system, and invest in programs that prevent and treat childhood trauma.
She has taught at Boston University School of Public Health and Salem State University School of Social Work, and speaks regularly at state and national conferences. She has lectured by invitation at BU School of Social Work, BU School of Public Health, The George Washington University, Emerson College, UMass Lowell, and UMass Amherst.
Tami holds a Doctor of Public Health in management, leadership, and policy and a Master of Public Health from BU School of Public Health, and a Master of Social Work from BU School of Social Work.
