Alumni Spotlight: Jacob McKee

Jacob McKee carries great pride as a deputy director of improvement in the Department of Veterans Affairs' National Improvement Office. He credits his social welfare education and leans on his prior experience as a social worker every day as he travels the country visiting various VA medical systems to help improve care for veterans. 

McKee, who received his Master of Social Work degree from the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare in 2011, started at the VA as a social worker nearly 14 years ago. He held a variety of roles within the VA before assuming his current position in October 2024. 

McKee said the lessons he learned in social work guided him throughout this upward career trajectory. 

“I think social work, better than any other profession, creates that broad net for you to land in and to build upon the skills that you've learned,” said McKee, who lives in Florida with his family. 

McKee wasn’t always on the social work path. He received a bachelor’s degree in psychology and anthropology from KU in 2007 and worked as a case manager with Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center in Lawrence. He also held multiple roles in mental health and as a homelessness outreach case manager. 

McKee decided to pursue his MSW during his time with Bert Nash. His goal was to get the extra experience through KU’s program and impress his wife by getting a master’s degree – mission accomplished on both fronts. 

His favorite part of the program, McKee said, was the ability to work his job while taking courses part-time. McKee credits associate professor Ed Scanlon for that experience. 

“I was able to get a lot of that experience that I was getting in class and in my practicum and tie it to what I was doing for my work,” said McKee, who also has a private practice on weekends and evenings, specializing in anxiety and ADHD.

In both his VA career and his private practice, McKee relies on his past when he travels to different states for the VA. In his role as deputy director of improvement for the VA, McKee went to at least 11 different states in 2025, providing executive-level consultation and strategic leadership to VA medical center leaders.

McKee wants others considering a social work degree to know that the skills acquired are evergreen and will help in a wide range of positions. 

“While you may specialize as you go through your career, I think the skills that you learn really are universal, even outside of social work,” McKee said. “I use those skills every day for critical conversations with leaders. There’s not another kind of education I could have gotten that would have provided this kind of skill set.”