About PRI

Hi, I'm Desirée

Your Practicum Architect

I’ve spent the past 17 years in the social work field, holding space across child welfare, treatment foster care, mental and reproductive health, and private practice. Throughout my journey, one thing has remained constant: my deep love for field education and mentoring the next generation of social workers.

After a powerful season as a Practicum Director, I saw the need for something more—a space where students, organizations, and schools could co-create practicum experiences that are liberatory, affirming, and truly transformative. That vision led to the birth of the Practicum Ready Institute.

I believe practicum should be a portal, not a hoop to jump through—a place where students feel seen, guided, and rooted in their values. I created this space so we can do field education differently. Together.

Our Mission

The Practicum Ready Institute was born out of a deep knowing: that field education is not just a requirement—it's a sacred rite of passage in the making of a social worker. Yet for too long, practicum experiences have been rooted in scarcity, misalignment, and harm—especially for QTBIPOC, first-generation students, and those seeking liberation-centered practice.

We’re here to change that.

Practicum Ready Institute is a liberatory learning space, ecosystem, and support hub for students, organizations, and universities reimagining field education through a justice-first lens. We believe that social work practicum should prepare students not only to survive systems—but to co-create new ones.

Our work bridges theory and practice, academia and community, intention and action. Whether you're a student preparing for your first placement, a therapist or birthworker collective building your first internship program, or a field director seeking values-aligned partners—you're in the right place.

Our Values

Liberation is the goal. Our work exists to reduce harm, reimagine systems, and build power at the margins.
Supervision is sacred. Field instructors and supervisors shape generations—so we invest in their growth, too.
Community is curriculum. We believe the field is the classroom, and lived experience is knowledge.
We move at the speed of trust. Relationship-building is our strategy and our success metric.

Whether you’re entering the field, mentoring the next generation, or redesigning your program from the ground up, the Practicum Ready Institute is here to walk with you.

Let’s make field education a space of liberation—not limitation.

For Students

We support BSW and MSW students in becoming “field ready” through masterclasses, mentorship circles, reflective workbooks, and our signature Practicum Ready Bootcamp. Our approach is rooted in Black feminist ethics of care, abolitionist frameworks, and community accountability—not just compliance. We help you find alignment, set boundaries, and show up fully, even in systems not built for you.

We help private practices, nonprofits, organizations, and collectives build sustainable, trauma-informed, and justice-rooted practicum programs. From intern onboarding to field supervision training to documentation templates—we co-design systems that reflect your mission and capacity. Through our Practicum Program Builder® framework, organizations learn how to mentor students in ways that nourish both the client and the collective.

For Organizations

For Colleges & Universities

We collaborate with social work programs to strengthen and diversify their field partnerships, train field instructors in anti-oppressive supervision, and build bridges between community-rooted organizations and academic institutions. We support curriculum co-design, supervision retreats, and intentional matchmaking between students and field sites aligned with their values.