PhD, RSW, LCSW

Shelley L. Craig (Project Director) is the Canada Research Chair for Sexual and Gender Minority Youth and a Full Professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto.

Dr. Craig has over twenty years of community-based leadership, practice and research with sexual and gender minority and marginalized populations. As a registered and licensed clinical social worker, Dr. Craig is particularly adept at creating, delivering and evaluating affirmative practice and effective services to individuals, groups and communities. Selected experiences include: Founder/ Executive Director of the Alliance for LGBTQ Youth, Executive Director of ALSO for Out Youth; Medical/health social worker in the emergency care center of a community hospital; Program Director residential services (shelter for victims of domestic violence) at Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center.

Dr. Craig’s research has been funded by federal organizations such as SSHRC and CIHR. Her most recent studies have been designed to: (1) create and test community-based interventions (AFFIRM) to improve mental health and coping of SGMY; (2) understand the impact of information and communication technologies (CTs) on the resilience of SGMY (#ProjectQueery) and (3) the use of simulation to enhance the competency of health social work students.

Dr. Craig is an expert in intervention research and practice with SGMY. As principal investigator she has recently tested several interventions for sexual and gender minority youth including Strengths-First, a resilience-focused case management program for youth at risk; ASSET, an empowering group intervention for SGMY delivered in school settings and AFFIRM, an affirmative cognitive-behavioural group intervention delivered in community settings that positively impacts mental and sexual health. Dr. Craig directed an extensive community research plan, as well as developed and established a multi-million dollar comprehensive service delivery system for sexual minority youth and their families.

Dr. Craig is intrigued with the influence of the media on the resilience and identity of this vulnerable population and is finalizing the results of a large scale (n=7000) study investigating the impact of social and popular media on SGMY health and wellbeing.

Dr. Craig has contributed to the empirical literature with over 110 peer reviewed journal articles and over 250 peer reviewed conference presentations and invited talks.

Dr. Craig is an avid educator and has trained thousands of practitioners and policymakers on affirmative care for SGMY, intervention implementation as well as LGBT affirmative social work education. She has also been PI of an international study of LGBTQ students in social work programs.

Dr. Craig has been honored to receive multiple awards or recognitions such as: Inspirational Social Work Leader (Ontario Association of Social Workers); Fellow, the Society for Social Work Research (SSWR); The Excellence in Research Scholarship Award from the Council of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity/Expression (CSOGIE); National Association of Social Workers (NASW) Student Social Worker of the Year; and The Gay and Lesbian Adolescent Social Services (GLASS) National Person of Impact.