2026 MSW Community Practice Intern of the Year: Miah Carter

Tell us a little about yourself including where you are from and why you chose social work.

 I'm from Abilene, Texas, and I am the first in my family to attend Baylor. I chose social work because I wanted to learn more about the impact of social injustice on individuals and communities, and what roles I could take to influence the world around me. For my bachelor's degree, I minored in Poverty Studies and Social Justice.

Tell us what you are passionate about. Do you have any populations you enjoy working with or would like to? 

I’m very passionate about food insecurity and its ties to the criminal justice system. I’m currently working with incarcerated teenage girls and I enjoy it a lot. I would like to continue working with justice-involved individuals, ideally in the community and at an intersection with food insecurity.  

Tell us about your internship(s), and what you have enjoyed about them or learned from them.

I interned at Greater Waco Legal Services in undergrad and the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty in grad school. 

I enjoyed learning about the multidisciplinary approach at Greater Waco, as I worked closely with the attorneys and medical team at Waco Family Medicine. Greater Waco taught me the importance of viewing a client’s life holistically, rather than just focusing on individual aspects of a client’s life.  The medical-legal partnership recognizes that a client’s wellbeing is the sum of many parts, and social issues cannot be solved in isolation. 

My learning at The Collaborative was centered around empowering community members with the knowledge and resources to work towards solving hunger in their communities. I enjoyed the research components of the internship and the creative liberty I was given when working on projects. I designed an interactive re-entry activity that illustrated the barriers that individuals face when they leave the prison system. There is a significant link between past incarceration and future food insecurity, so being able to study this topic and teach it to others was very valuable to me. Finally, as part of my internship I was able to travel to Washington D.C. to attend Bread for the World’s Hunger Summit. As part of the Summit, I was able to speak to legislators about both my personal experiences with food insecurity and what I learned about food insecurity as a social work intern.

What does this award mean to you?

I was so surprised to receive this award and am so grateful for the recognition of my work. I truly enjoyed my time at the GSSW and especially at The Collaborative. I owe so much to the team there, particularly my supervisors Katherine Best and Courtney Haworth, who went out of their way to provide rich learning opportunities and encouraged my passion for justice-involved individuals. The two of them showed me what effective, compassionate, and social work-inspired leadership looks like, which is a lesson I have taken with me into my workplace.

What are you doing now?

I graduated in August of 2025 and began working as a mental health professional at the Texas Juvenile Justice Department in October of 2025. I have loved applying my social work education in this setting and continuing to learn more about the clinical side of social work.

What others say about Miah:

"Miah exceeded our expectations for an advanced practice intern at the Baylor Collaborative on Hunger and Poverty and deserves to be recognized for her excellence. Miah excelled both in her practical application of social work skills, training, and education and in her mastery of theoretical concepts and systems-level models. Miah took initiative in her work with the Collaborative through leading all-staff exercises and presentations, coming prepared for supervision and meetings, and thinking critically and proactively about tasks and assignments. She is adept at making connections between what she learned in class and her work in the field—truly bridging the gap between research-informed-practice and practice-informed-research. One example of Miah’s commitment to her own learning and growth while promoting the betterment of the Collaborative is demonstrated by her recent all-staff WIC presentation. Miah prepared a comprehensive presentation for the staff that was professional, informative, engaging, and thought-provoking. The number of questions and conversations spurred on by the presentation was a true testament to how deeply the information permeated the staff’s thought-processes and comprehension. It takes an exceptional person to present on a federal nutrition program with the depth and care that Miah gave to her presentation. Additionally, Miah engaged seamlessly across the various teams within the Baylor Collaborative. She even accepted the invitation to travel to Washington D.C. with the Collaborative in June to expand her learning and engage in a deeper level in policy work. This is not a requirement or expectation of our interns, but Miah took the initiative and ownership of her learning to take the opportunity to strengthen her experiential knowledge of policy and government relations. Miah’s passion, thoughtfulness, intelligence, and resilience all worked together to strengthen the Collaborative’s programs for clients through sharing personal experience, centering the current research, and bringing marginalized voices to the table. Miah demonstrated her leadership and teamwork skills while working with other social work interns on a project with several complex components by working collaboratively, communicating clearly, and addressing issues with respect and tact. Miah brought joy and energy to work that can be thankless and tiresome. She thinks critically and creatively with a heart toward innovative approaches to serve vulnerable populations. Miah is passionate, reflective, and perceptive. She contributed to both the Collaborative team and work as a professional and colleague. Miah is already an excellent social worker and the profession is better because of her."

"My favorite experience with Miah was when we presented to a group of students from another university who wanted to learn about the Collaborative and the role of food insecurity in the reentry experience for those who were formerly incarcerated. Miah showed great initiative and leadership in the planning and facilitation of this event, including taking point on a reentry simulation that put students in the shoes of those who try to make ends meet once they leave prison. Miah also shared about how she aims to further social justice through her political advocacy involvement that aligns with social work values. Not only were the students engaged during the event, but several wanted to connect with her afterward to learn about what brought her into social work and learn how they could engage in policy in a way similar to Miah. This spoke to the passion and energy Miah dedicated each and every day to the work of the Collaborative. Miah is a gift to the field of social work, and I can't wait to see all that she does."