MSW alum finds social work education rewarding in numerous ways
Andrew (Ed) Morales’s mother retired from the U.S. Army as a lieutenant colonel after more that 20 years of service as a nurse. She then spent another two decades working in maternal-child health at a local public health department. Morales’s father served in both the Air Force and Marines before entering the private sector developing cell phone tech. The dedication to their work rubbed off on their son.
“The charge within our family was to do something with our time, skills, and,” Morales says. “Social work has been my way of doing something meaningful with my brief time here on Earth.”
Morales graduated from the School of Social Work’s MSW program in 2013, and later earned a master of public policy from the Humphrey School in 2017. “Since graduating, I’ve worked at the intersection of child welfare, education, and justice,” he says.
He spent the first part of his career as a school social worker in Minneapolis charter schools. In 2016, he became a foster parent and then an adoptive parent, which deepened his commitment to transforming child welfare. “Two years later, I joined the Minnesota Child Welfare Training Academy, where I trained child protection workers statewide,” he says.
“That same year, I began working on-call at Children’s Hospital, providing crisis assessments and bereavement support to patients and families.” In 2017, Morales began teaching a field seminar in the School of Social Work, later expanding into teaching full courses in 2020. In 2022, he joined Hennepin County’s Children and Family Services Department as a supervisor of training and curriculum development. “There, I led a redesign of the county’s induction curriculum for new child protection professionals—a project that earned a 2024 Achievement Award from the National Association of Counties,” he says.
Morales (center), celebrating his NASW award with the nominating students from his Social Work Methods with Families and Groups course in Spring 2025. (Photo courtesy of Ed Morales)
Also in 2022, he joined the Board of Foster Advocates, an organization ensuring fosters have a seat at every table where decisions about their lives are made. He became board chair in 2023. This fall, he begins his PhD in social work at the University of Denver.
For all of his achievements, Morales was honored as Social Worker of the Year by the National Association of Social Workers in its 2025 Social Work Chapter Awards. He was nominated by the students in his Social Work Methods with Families and Groups course. “Aside from parenting my amazing girls, teaching has been the most rewarding, humbling, and inspiring experience of my life,” Morales says. “I can’t believe I get to do this professionally!”
In his classroom, Morales strives to create a learning space that is anti-oppressive, deeply engaging, and focused on self-exploration. “I think the experience in my classroom resonates with a lot of students because it’s honest, it’s down-to-earth, and as free from pretension as we can get in a master’s program,” he says. “While we spend most of our time talking about poorly functioning systems, we also make sure to create space for joy during the semester. Sometimes that means we have Oreo cookie parties, sometimes it means we end class early to go visit the baby cows down the street. It always means we make time to build real connections, which is at the heart of our profession.”
Morales, with a cohort of new Hennepin county CPS workers on their graduation day. (Photo courtesy of Ed Morales)
Morales says the School of Social Work, and by extension CEHD, is an incubator of connection. “The professional connections I’ve made through CEHD have been nothing short of transformative,” he says. “As an adjunct faculty member in the School of Social Work, I’ve been fortunate to stay involved with the CEHD community over the years. Staying connected matters to me because the future of our field depends on these remarkable students—on their ideas, their leadership, and their drive to tackle the biggest things they can. I feel lucky to be part of a community that is shaping what’s next.”
— Kevin Moe
Photo by Jairus Davis