Seema Clifasefi
Seema Clifasefi (she/her), PhD, MSW serves as the UW Faculty Sponsor and Doorway Project Director. She is an associate professor and also co-directs the Harm Reduction Research and Treatment (HaRRT) Center in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington-Harborview Medical Center. Her research interests lie at the intersection of substance use, mental health, criminal justice and housing policy, with an emphasis on populations with lived experience of homelessness, substance use and/or involvement in the criminal justice system.
Over the past fifteen years, she has worked collaboratively with affected communities to develop, evaluate and disseminate programs and interventions that aim to reduce substance related harm, improve quality of life, and create positive social change. Ultimately, through her research, she aims to center the voices of the populations she is working on behalf of to create more equitable systems through community capacity building, self-determination, and compassionate pragmatism. In her spare time, she enjoys walks with friends, spending time near (or in) water, chasing the sun, food of all varieties, and watching clever comedy series with her partner and two teenagers (e.g., Parks and Rec, 30 Rock, Community, and Schitts Creek are some family favorites).
Afomia Assefa
Hello my name is Afomia Assefa. I am a graduate student at the University of Washington in the information school studying Information Management. I am passionate about the power of storytelling and working towards a world with more equity. I have various experiences doing direct service in community service organizations and working in healthcare settings. I want to engage in work that aims to disrupt systems of oppression and bring healing to disproportionately impacted individuals. Currently I am the Program Supervisor at Doorway working across our three pillars and our communication branch. In my free time I like to paint, write and read.
Aaron Davis
Aaron Davis (she/they) is a community health scientist, nationally certified health education specialist, and abolitionist who graduated with an MPH in epidemiology, with a focus on maternal child health from the University of Washington. Aaron believes strongly in the power of community and has a passion for public health research and community-led initiatives and activism to address health disparities. Currently, Aaron leverages their diverse lived experience to inform their work, and how they collaborate with communities. They work on many interdisciplinary projects as a harm reductionist, mental health writer, and racial health disparities researcher.
Emma Mancano
Emma is a fourth-year sociology major studying at the University of Washington. She began her internship at The Doorway Project through UW’s community-based internship (UCBI) program, continuing her work through the Jackson Munro Public Service Fellowship before joining as the program assistant.
Emma’s academic interests lie in understanding the way interconnected identity factors including race, class, gender, sexuality, and physical ableness shape lived experiences. She hopes to use this sociological framework of intersectionality as a steppingstone in supporting disadvantaged individuals through their healing processes. This works in tandem with an understanding of the necessary balance between holding emotional space for communities and taking proactive, concrete steps toward change.