‘Steadfast advocate’: Alex Wagaman wins one of VCU’s inaugural awards for community excellence
Praised as someone who “creates safe spaces where people can learn and grow” and as a “steadfast advocate with a gentle presence,” Alex Wagaman, Ph.D., was honored with one of VCU’s inaugural Excellence in Community Engagement Awards in May 2025.
Wagaman, an associate professor in the School of Social Work, received her award in the category Community-Engaged Research Partnership, which “centers dignity, equity and advocacy through long-standing partnerships with marginalized communities.”
“I want to express my deep appreciation for those who have been in this work with me from the time I came to Richmond, and all those they represent. We do not do this work alone!” says Wagaman, whose work focuses on youth populations who are unhoused or experiencing housing instability.
The colleagues who nominated Wagaman represent her history of collaboration at the local, state and national level, and those peers celebrated her consistent ability to incorporate youth with lived experience as partners and leaders through a participatory action research model.
“Alex intentionally partners with community organizations and individuals with lived expertise to enhance a particular knowledge base, build relationships and develop policy or practice recommendations,” says social work Ph.D. student Kade Goldin, a collaborator and nominator for the award. “Alex establishes shared decision-making practices by cultivating connections and agreements with team members, making space for everyone’s input and waiting to move forward until all partners have weighed in.”
One longtime partner is Patricia A. Popp, Ph.D., the state coordinator for Project HOPE-Virginia, the commonwealth’s Program for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth. Her collaboration goes back to around 2013, when they worked together on the Governor’s Coordinating Council on Homelessness, Interagency Partnership to Prevent and End Youth Homelessness. Popp, who is also a clinical associate professor in the William & Mary School of Education, remembers finding common ground with Wagaman around a more inclusive definition and perspective on those experiencing homelessness.
“I knew I had an ally in those meetings, making it easier to push for changes and strengthening partnerships with higher education that continue to this day,” says Popp, who was also a nominator.
Both Popp and Goldin hailed Wagaman’s ability to make room at the table for youth to engage authentically and share their views.
“Alex creates safe spaces where people can learn and grow,” Popp says. “Her ability to engage diverse participants in communities to work together and learn from each other is powerful. Social justice, equity and inclusivity are always evident. We need this in our communities and at all levels. Her work has a direct and indirect impact on young people experiencing homelessness that can improve their lives and ability to succeed.”
Wagaman, says Goldin, is “focused on lifting everyone’s voice … As someone who witnesses Alex in meetings across sectors, she remains authentically herself, a steadfast advocate with a gentle presence, always communicating the importance of intentionally including young adults and amplifying their expertise.”
Among Wagaman’s major projects:
- Collaborating with youth & researchers from five states and Project-HOPE, which administers the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, to design a research study on high school-age students in Virginia who are categorized as both experiencing homelessness and being unaccompanied (without a parent or guardian). A vision grant from the Spencer Foundation will enable the researchers to expand their work to a larger multistate team.
- Working as a special advisor with the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness on a youth homelessness plan and helping develop the National Youth Advisory Group. NYAG serves as the central leadership for the National Youth Homelessness Partnership, an initiative funded by the Raikes Foundation and housed at VCU.
- Co-creating Marsha and Marian’s Neighbors, a youth shared-housing project, with social work colleague Maurice Gattis, Ph.D., associate professor, and youth with lived experience. The evidence-based, co-designed intervention, supported with more than $2 million from the Virginia Housing Trust Fund Homeless Reduction Grants, served 40 Richmond households with individuals ages 18-24 who identify as LGBTQIA+, pregnant and/or parenting.
- Helping secure a spot in the Grand Challenge initiative from A Way Home America, along with Gattis, to find solutions to end homelessness among LGBTQ+ youth and youth of color. Richmond was one of 10 cities selected nationwide.
- Serving on a national team to develop a research agenda on LGBTQ+ youth homelessness in partnership with True Colors United.
- Co-founding Advocates for Richmond Youth, a participatory action research team focusing on ending youth homelessness.
