Lyudmila Kim

Lyudmila Kim is Program Director of the Uzbekistan Collaborative Center (UCC) at Columbia School of Social Work (CSSW) and an Adjunct Lecturer at CSSW. She holds a Master of Science in Social Work from Columbia University and a graduate degree in Psychology from the National University of Uzbekistan.

With over 20 years of experience in social work education, practice, and international consultancy, Lyudmila has been a pioneer in establishing and developing the social work profession in Uzbekistan. 

Her expertise spans child protection, case management, gender-based violence, crisis intervention, mental health, and trauma-focused care. She previously served as Lead Consultant for CSSW's Social Intervention Group (SIG) and UNICEF Regional Office partnership program on strengthening the social service workforce across Europe and Central Asia, training approximately 200 educators and practitioners across the region. As Regional Program Advisor for SOS Children's Villages International (2011–2016), she led the development of family strengthening and community-based programs across 9 CIS countries. As an international consultant for UNICEF in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and across Central Asia, she has provided technical assistance on social service workforce development, child protection, case management standards, and mental health and psychosocial support services for vulnerable children, families, and women affected by migration and conflict.

Lyudmila played a key role in facilitating the establishment of the Uzbekistan-Columbia Center, realizing a shared vision with colleagues from SIG CSSW and Uzbekistan to strengthen social work services and improve the well-being of people and communities in Uzbekistan. 

In her current role as Director of the UCC, she leads the UCC's high-level partnership with the National Agency for Social Protection (NASP) of Uzbekistan and UNICEF. In this role, she provides leadership in the implementation of UCC's research, education, and practice development activities, leading capacity-building programs for the social service workforce, adapting evidence-based interventions, and facilitating the development of regulatory frameworks and operational guidelines in collaboration with governmental and international partners. 

Serving as a bridge between CSSW faculty and the Uzbekistan team and national stakeholders, she brings deep knowledge of the Uzbekistan context to her role — translating and adapting CSSW's accumulated expertise, evidence-based interventions, and academic resources to local realities. Her work draws on a rare combination of research, teaching, and direct clinical practice, giving her a grounded, multidimensional perspective that informs both the Center's programmatic direction and its engagement with governmental and community partners.

Lyudmila is the author of numerous professional publications, training curricula, and practice tools, including the published assessment report The Social Service Workforce in Uzbekistan: Strengths, Challenges, and Ways Forward (UNICEF Uzbekistan, 2019), the Standards of Case Management Practice guide (UNICEF Uzbekistan/EU, 2019), and a range of training programs and facilitator manuals on child protection, case management, trauma-informed care, and social work practice developed for UNICEF, SOS Children's Villages International, Columbia University, and other international organizations across Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Lyudmila is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New York State and provides mental health services to individuals with depression, anxiety, trauma, and other mental health conditions, specializing in trauma-focused therapy.