Paula Foster, MSW, LCSW

Paula D. Foster, MSW, LCSW. After receiving her Master’s degree from Hunter College School of Social Work in NYC, Paula began working in the field of HIV/AIDS and homelessness in 1990, continuing this work after moving to Nashville in 2001 as the Director of Emotional & Practical Support for Nashville CARES.  She has served as a Co-chair of the Ryan White Part A Planning Council for the Metro-Nashville Transitional Grant Area, providing input regarding the funding of services to the HIV/AIDS service community. Paula has been an adjunct instructor in the Social Work department at Tennessee State University and an adjunct instructor and field liaison for the University of Tennessee’s School of Social Work, Nashville campus.  She was a practicing faculty member at Vanderbilt’s School of Nursing, for the Vanderbilt Program in Inter-professional Learning and taught a Social Services Competency Based Training at TSU’s Center for Excellence in Learning Sciences.  Paula was the Executive Director of the Tennessee Conference on Social Welfare (TCSW), a statewide advocacy and training organization and in 2020 she moved on to be the Executive Director of Open Table Nashville providing outreach and housing advocacy for Nashville’s most vulnerable citizens.  Paula’s experience spans a variety of service areas including advocacy, healthcare, mental healthcare, substance abuse, hospice and homelessness.  She is a past President of the Board of Directors for NASW-TN and served as the Region VII Representative to the national board of directors of the National Association of Social Workers in Washington, DC.  Paula was a trainer with the HIV/AIDS Spectrum Project of NASW and has developed extensive educational workshops for social workers throughout the state of Tennessee.  In 2008, Paula was the co-chair of the NASW-TN Multilevel Licensure Task Force, helping to rewrite Tennessee’s social work licensing laws and instrumental in drafting the rules and regulations of the board.  In 2011, she was honored as NASW-TN’s Social Worker of the Year.  Paula has served on several non-profit boards including Saddle Up!, the TN Disability Coalition, the Women’s Political Collaborative, Nashville Pride and was a mayoral appointment to the Metropolitan Nashville Homelessness Commission in 2016.  The commission merged with the HUD mandated Nashville Continuum of Care in 2018, becoming the Nashville Davidson County Continuum of Care Homelessness Planning Council where she served as chair of the council for two consecutive years.  In 2023, Paula returned to Nashville CARES as the Advocacy & Special Project Coordinator.