Amy Krings, MSW, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Social Work at Loyola University Chicago. Her research focuses on how marginalized groups collectively advance social and environmental justice, and how social workers and community organizations can support individuals in becoming social change agents. She has published on the topics of environmental justice organizing, political engagement and participatory decision-making processes, youth participation, social welfare policies, gentrification and equitable development, and social justice education.

Dr. Krings earned her PhD in the Social Work and Political Science Joint Doctoral Program at the University of Michigan. Her dissertation research used participatory methods to examine how a Southwest Detroit community organized to secure a community benefits agreement that would protect community health and promote environmental justice. Her practice experience includes work as a community organizer, grant-writer, and director of a non-profit focused on violence reduction and police reform.

Dr. Krings is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Article of the Year Prize (2020) in International Social Work, the Marie O. Weil Award for Article of the Year (2019) in the Journal of Community Practice, the Faculty Member of the Year Award (2018) presented by the School of Social Work Student Organization at Loyola Chicago, and the Association for Community Organization and Social Administration (ACOSA) Emerging Scholar Award (2014). She has guest-edited a special issue about social work and sustainability for the International Journal of Social Welfare and serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Community Practice. She member of the Grand Challenge Advisory Council: Social Responses to a Changing Environment, a Board Member of ACOSA, a Board Member of Influencing Social Policy (ISP), and serves on the CSWE Environmental Curricular Guide Task Force. She is a 2021 Visiting Scholar through the University of Jyväskylä, Finland.