Practicum Spotlight: Marcello Dodd-Holliday

Social work is a career with many avenues, but Marcello Dodd-Holliday has a sharp focus on his own path. 

Dodd-Holliday, a Master of Social Work student in the University of Kansas’ advanced standing program in Salina, wants to give the youth a role model they can relate to. 

His practicum with Central Kansas Mental Health Center allows him to do that. 

“They just need someone to believe in them,” Dodd-Holliday said. “I wouldn't have gotten this far, from all the trials and tribulations that I've been through, without people believing in me.”

His goal is to nurture, show empathy and be there for families who need someone to stand up for them. Dodd-Holliday grew up with limited resources in small-town Trenton, Tennessee. He knew he wanted to go elsewhere after high school but wasn’t prepared for the “culture shock” when he moved to Junction City. His aunt lived in Junction City and talked it up to him when he was younger, so he made the move.

He met people from all different backgrounds as a result of being near the Fort Riley Army base, he said. This, along with coaching youth basketball and football, inspired him to pursue social work. 

“I wanted to be relatable because I could relate, coming from poverty, being a Black male,” Dodd-Holliday said. “I feel like Black kids need people as role models that they could see in these schools, and that are in the community doing good things.”

At Central Kansas Mental Health Center, Dodd-Holliday does case management as well as a pilot program at Kansas Wesleyan University, where he provides mental health services for students. He said a lot of the students there are far from home, whether their families are across the country or from overseas.

Dodd-Holliday likes to get to work quickly, and the advanced standing MSW program allows him to fast-track toward his goals of helping out youth. A phrase he likes to use in his advocacy is, “I feel like we need to be meeting these children where they are.”

These are things he didn’t have as a child, Dodd-Holliday said. 

“It made me hone in on what I was missing out on as a child,” Dodd-Holliday said. “I wanted to give that back.”