USD School of Health Sciences Success Spotlight: Jill Baker, MSW, CSW

Degree: Master of Social Work

Current Position: Executive Director, Community Action for Veterans, Sioux Falls, SD

Jill Baker was born on an Air Force base and joined the Army straight out of high school. When she got out three and a half years later, civilian life felt like a foreign country.

"I describe it like when you're in the military, your job is extremely high-stakes. Your life is very fast because your adrenaline is just flowing," Baker says. "So when you get out, civilian life can feel like people are walking in water."

That jarring transition — complicated by service-connected disabilities, including PTSD — would eventually become the foundation for her life's work. 

After years in human services, Baker was tapped in 2015 to co-chair a new type of volunteer organization: a community veterans engagement board. That board eventually gave rise to Community Action for Veterans, a nonprofit organization built on the collective-impact framework that Baker helped establish. 

"Having this desire to really create an impact, I knew I first had to learn how to take care of myself," Baker explains. "I needed the knowledge to do that, which is one of the reasons I decided to do the Master of Social Work program at USD."

She made a point of connecting every course to the non-profit she was building, as well as to her own wellbeing. One instructor's analogy for understanding mental health challenges has stayed with her: Imagine that everyone starts out with an empty cup to hold their life experiences. Someone with PTSD already has liquid in theirs. When life adds more, it can quickly overflow.

"If I know someone has been deployed or had adverse experiences, I figure their cup is already half full," Baker says. "It helps to develop empathy."  

Today, Baker leads a team that helps veterans cut through bureaucratic red tape to access food, healthcare, education, and their benefits. The MSW gave her both the clinical framework and the self-awareness to do that work sustainably, and to help others do the same.