Amber R. Kelly
Professor of Social Work
Capstone Mentor
Director of Prison Education and Community Engagement
Amber R. Kelly
Professor of Social Work
Capstone Mentor
Director of Prison Education and Community Engagement
Amber Kelly is a Professor of Social Work with Quinnipiac University's School for Health Sciences where she teaches across the MSW program, with focus on theory, pracice, and psychological trauma. Her scholarship focuses on using trauma-informed clinical work and contemplative practices with survivors of both interpersonal and systemic violence, with a specific focus on working with currently criminal-legal system impacted people and communities.
Dr. Kelly is active in several roles including acting as Director of Prison Education and Community Engagement at Quinnipiac University, teaching trauma-informed and mindfulness based classes within Connecticut prisons, and collaborating with area organizations led by and for formerly incarcerated folks acting for personal and systems change. She also continues to maintain a small private practice, working with survivors of violence.
Dr. Kelly is active in several roles including acting as Director of Prison Education and Community Engagement at Quinnipiac University, teaching trauma-informed and mindfulness based classes within Connecticut prisons, and collaborating with area organizations led by and for formerly incarcerated folks acting for personal and systems change. She also continues to maintain a small private practice, working with survivors of violence.
Education
- BS, University of Florida
- MSW, Florida State University
- PHD, Smith College
Areas of Expertise
- Race and Ethnicity
- Child Welfare
- Family Violence
- Criminal Justice
- Cultural Humility
Organization
- Social Work
Office Location
- Medicine, Nursing, Health Sci
Mail Drop
- NH-HSC
Courses
-
MED 700 SRCC Selective
Medicine Term 2 Year 1 2026 -
SW 503 Social Work Practice II: Practice With Groups and Communities
Spring 2026 -
SW 511 Human Behavior in the Social Environment I: Theories for Practice for Individuals and Families
Fall 2025 -
SW 601 Social Work Practice III: Specialized Clinical Social Work Practice
Fall 2025
Quinnipiac Today
Experience
Quinnipiac University College Corps
Academic Lead / Liaison
Hamden, CT
2021 - 2021
Selected Publications
Peer Reviewed Journal
Trauma-informed care in the Emergency Department: Concepts and recommendations for integrating practices into emergency medicine
Greenwald, A., Thomas, L., & Kelly, A.
28 (1) Medical Educaiton Online (2023)
Peer Reviewed Journal
The dynamic duo: Use of standardized clients across the social work practice and field curricula
Jacobson, S., Kelly, A., McCave, E., & Mutrie, L.
Journal of Social Work Education Accepted February, in process (2023)
Forthcoming Peer Reviewed Journal
“People care and I’m not invisible”: A qualitative study of street-based sex worker experiences of harm reduction
Cammisa, A., Codianni, B., & Kelly, A.
Submitted to Critical Public Health (2023)
Invited Speaker
One state one film: A conversation on restorative justice.
Kelly, A. Winfield, G., Williams, T., & Dawidoff, N.
One State, One Film Series, Hartford, CT, The Connecticut Collaborative on Poverty, Criminal Justice, & Race (2023)
Peer Reviewed Presentations
Online trauma-informed mindfulness based stress reduction program for formerly incarcerated and other women survivors of violence: Pandemic-era results from this virtual trauma-informed process
St. John, J., Kelly, A., Vrissis, E., & Sims, S
Society for Social Work & Research Annual Conference, Washington, D.C., Society for Social Work & Research (2022)
Peer Reviewed Presentations
Trauma-informed restorative practices in prison (and in life): Praxis
Meikle, C., Boyd, R., & Kelly, A.
National Association of Community and Restorative Justice Annual Conference, Chicago, IL, NACRJ (2022)
Peer Reviewed Presentations
24 Hours: Explorations of everyday prison life
Smoyer, A., Elumn, J., Kelly, A., & Meek, R.
22nd Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, Malaga, Spain, European Society of Criminology (2022)
Peer Reviewed Presentations
Phenomenological study of sex work and harm reduction: SWAN members share their experiences of the power of relationship, advocacy, and community building in one grassroots harm reduction organization supporting sex workers in New Haven, CT
Cammisa, A., Kelly, A., & Codianni, B.
13th National Harm Reduction Conference, San Juan, Puerto Rico, National Harm Reduction Coalition (2022)
Invited Speaker
Prison Project Roundtable
Kelly, A.
Quinnipiac University Center for Research and Scholarship Roundtable, North Haven, CT, Quinnipiac University Center for Research and Scholarship (2021)
Academic Awards, Fellowships and Grants
Community Foundation for a Greater New Haven Strategy Grant
Grant | 2018-2019
Funded: $5,736. Received funding from this agency for service work I do with the New Haven Women's Resettlement Working Group, a project I am a part of as a member of the QU Prison Project.