Name: Ja'Shaun Blanding
Title: Field Director and Instructor
Education: M.S.W., University of South Carolina
B.S.W., Winthrop University
Office: 118 Bancroft Hall
Phone: 803/323-3302
E-mail: blandingj@winthrop.edu
Web:
Area(s): organizational development, leadership, child welfare practice, self-sufficiency
programming
Ja'Shaun Brailey Blanding is the Field Director in the Department of Social Work at
Winthrop University. Mrs. Blanding served as MSW Field Coordinator from 2019-2021
before stepping into the Director role.
Before her role at Winthrop, Ja’Shaun worked as a Program Consultant/Trainer for the
North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services in Child Welfare. Over 17 years,
her professional experiences include work in child welfare, mental health, management
in self-sufficiency programming, and online educational technology. Mrs. Blanding
also served as a Field Instructor as well as an Adjunct Faculty member and Field Liaison.
Ja’Shaun’s focus areas are organizational development, child welfare, and self-sufficiency
programs. She believes the profession of Social Work is transformational to clients
as well as social work practitioners.
Her mantra echoes a quote by Marian Wright Elderman, “you can’t be what you can’t
see.” Ja’Shaun believes that it matters how we show up and, most importantly, how
we think about ourselves and envision ourselves in the future. As a proud Winthrop
BSW alum, Ja’Shaun strives to model for students that they can be successful Social
Workers and ensure that students have experiential opportunities with the hope that
they identify how they want to show up as professional Social Workers.