Maryland Social Workers Readying for Macro Social Work Conference

The Maryland Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers will be holding its Third Annual Macro Social Work Conference on Friday, April 24, 2015 at the Maritime Institute, 692 Maritime Boulevard, Linthicum, MD 21090.  The all-day forum will feature sessions on Teaching Macro Practice,  Advocacy, Making Macro Matter!!, The Business of Social Work, Immigration, Community Change and Social Activism, Transformational Leadership, International Social Work, and more.  The chapter is accepting registrations now on its website.

CRISP board member Andy Germak will be the keynote speaker for the event.  A professor of professional practice and founding executive director of the Center for Leadership and Management at Rutgers University School of Social Work in New Jersey, he is the author of the book, “Essential Business Skills for Social Work Managers: Tools for Optimizing Programs and Organizations,” published by Routledge in 2015.  Professor Germak expects to complete his Ph.D. at Rutgers University in May of 2016.

Providing leadership for the conference is Dr. Daphne McClellan, executive director of the Maryland Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, with assistance from Ashley McSwain, chair of the chapter’s Macro Social Work Committee. The conference follows closely on the heels of the chapter’s Student Conference that was held on April 11^th.   The chapter also hosted its annual conference on March 26-27 in conjunction with the 60^th anniversary of the National Association of Social Workers.  That conference held with the theme, “Social Work Paves the Way for Change,” featured Huffington Post feature writer Dominic Carter as keynote speaker.

Among the notables presenting at the Macro Social Work Conference is Dr. Terry Mizrahi, professor and chair of Community Organizing and Program Development at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College in New York City where she is also the Director of the Education Center for Community Organizing.  Dr. Mizrahi is a member of the Association for Community Organizing and Social Administration (ACOSA) and co-chair of the Commission to Advance Macro Social Work Practice.  A past president of the National Association of Social Workers, she completed a Fulbright Fellowship in Israel in 2006 and continues to train and consult there with various academic and professional leaders.  Dr. Mizrahi will be leading workshops on Community Change and Social Activism, and Making Macro Matter:  Progress on Advancing the Practice of Macro Social Work.

Other participants include: Dr. Melissa Littlefield, chair of the MSW Department at Morgan State University, who will lead a workshop on Community University Partnerships accountability: Creating Collective Power in Baltimore; Dr. Jody Olsen, Visiting Professor at the School of Social Work and Director of the Center for Global Education Initiative at the University of Maryland, will lead a workshop on International Social Work; Ashley McSwain will present a workshop on Transformational Leadership; Dr. Tanya L. Sharpe, associate professor at the University of Maryland School of Social Work will lead a workshop on Teaching Macro Practice; Elizabeth Alex, manager of CASA de Maryland will conduct a workshop on Immigration; Adam Schneider, Director of Community Relations for Health Care for the Homeless, will lead a workshop on Advocacy; and Prof. Germak will lead a workshop on Business Essentials for Social Workers.

The conference will conclude with a panel on Solidifying a Place for Macro Social Work in Maryland moderated by Dr. Linda Plitt Donaldson, associate professor at the National Catholic School of Social Service at The Catholic University of America.  Dr. Donaldson is a commissioner for the Special Commission to Advance Macro Social Work Practice and has published extensively about macro social work practice.  The panel will include Dr. Mizrahi, Dr. McClellan, and Dick Cook, outgoing director of the Social Work Community Outreach Service (SWCOS) at the University of Maryland.  Visit the Maryland Chapter of NASW’s website for more information or to register.

Written By Charles E. Lewis Jr., Ph.D

Maryland Social Workers Readying for Macro Social Work Conference was originally published @ Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy » Charles Lewis and has been syndicated with permission.