Equity, Justice, and Inclusion Lecture and Distinguished Alumni Award Celebration

Accompaniment in Action Lecture and Distinguished Alumni Awards Celebration


This lecture is one in a series of events the School of Social Work offers each year.听Following the lecture, the school honors the recipients of that year's Distinguished Alumni Awards, which recognize BCSSW MSW or PhD alumni who have made significant contributions to the social work profession.

Nominate an Alum

听Nominations for the 2025 event are now closed. The deadline was September 8, 2025.听

Monday, November 10, 2025

Gasson 100
6:00鈥8:30 p.m. ET

Directions and Parking

Validated parking will be offered in the on-campus parking garages.

2025 Alumni Award Winners & Keynote Speaker


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Jennifer Lemmerman, MSW '08
Chief Policy Officer
Project Bread

Distinguished Alumni Award Winner

Jennifer Lemmerman, MSW 鈥08, is Chief Policy Officer at Project Bread, where she leads statewide efforts to address the root causes of hunger through policy, advocacy, and coalition-building. Under her leadership, Project Bread secured permanent universal free school meals in Massachusetts and launched Make Hunger History, a first-of-its-kind statewide coalition strategy to permanently end hunger. Jennifer鈥檚 career spans local, state, and national advocacy, including roles at Community Catalyst and the National Brain Tumor Society, where she built grassroots movements and advanced federal health policy, such as the Affordable Care Act. She also served six years on the Melrose City Council, including as Council President. A proud social worker, Jennifer integrates her training in community organizing and policy practice into every aspect of her leadership. She continues to support the next generation of social workers as a field advisor at the md传媒国产剧 University School of Social Work. She lives in Andover with her husband and two children.

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Jooyoung Kong, PhD '16
Associate Professor, Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Recent Alumni Award Winner

Jooyoung Kong (She, Her) is an Associate Professor at the Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Jooyoung鈥檚 research takes a life course approach to examining the long-term effects of adverse childhood experiences on later-life outcomes, including health, intergenerational caregiving, and elder abuse victimization. She currently employs mixed methods to examine how childhood trauma shapes adult children鈥檚 caregiving for aging parents. Her research has been supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) and published in leading journals such as The Journals of Gerontology: Series B and Journal of Marriage and Family. She also contributes to the fields of trauma and gerontological social work through editorial board service and professional engagement.

Sue Coleman

Susan Coleman, MSW 鈥86
Assistant Dean, Field Education, BCSSW

Lifetime Achievement Award

With over 40 years of human services experience, Sue Coleman has had a wonderful career in a number of sectors鈥攏onprofit, federal and state agencies, as a practitioner, supervisor, trainer and consultant. She has worked with vulnerable children and families in the child welfare system and with adults with mental health, substance abuse and other social and emotional concerns. Sue received bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees from md传媒国产剧 College, in 1982 and 1986 respectively. Sue returned to BC in 1998 as part-time faculty in the Field Education department and became its director in 2011. As assistant dean for Field Education, Sue has made strong connections in the community, which have lead to mutually beneficial partnerships with agency administrators and field instructors. Sue鈥檚 focus on student formation, using a 鈥渨hole person鈥 perspective in experiential learning, has grounded the program in many ways. Sue鈥檚 work with students, as they begin their professional social work journeys, has been the most rewarding aspect of her time at the School of Social Work. She has been an active member of the administration, lending her expertise to curriculum development, enrollment, student experience, faculty and staff training, and employee development.

Cristiano Casalini, Ph.D.

Cristiano Casalini, Ph.D.
Endowed Chair, Jesuit Pedagogy and Educational History
Research Scholar, Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies
Professor, md传媒国产剧 College听

Keynote Speaker

Cristiano Casalini is the academic director of the Institute for Advanced Jesuit Studies and a professor in the Department of Formative Education at the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, where he holds the Chair in Jesuit Pedagogy and Educational History. He has published extensively on the history of Jesuit education and pedagogy. He serves as co-editor of the Jesuit Educational Quarterly and editor of the Brill series History of Early Modern Educational Thought. At md传媒国产剧 College, he teaches courses such as听Social Justice in Jesuit Contexts,听Jesuit Pedagogy, and听History of Formative Education.

Event Archive


Distinguished Alumni Awards


Distinguished Alumni Award Criteria

Each year the BCSSW Alumni Board solicits nominations for the annual Distinguished Alumni Awards. These awards recognize the significant contributions to the field of social work made by a BCSSW alumni. Two awards are given each year, one to a recent graduate (5-10 years) and the other to an alumnus or alumna 10+ years from graduation.

Criteria for this award can include:

  • Significant contributions that enhance the profession of social work in the larger community.
  • Significant contributions made to social work education.
  • Significant contributions made in the area of public service.
  • Significant contributions to practice issues within the profession.
  • Significant contributions to social policy and change.
  • Significant contributions to the BCSSW students and alumni.
  • A lifetime achievement in the profession of social work.


Nominees must be alumni of the md传媒国产剧 College School of Social Work (MSW or PhD). Current BCSSW Alumni Association Board members and BCSSW employees are not eligible. Both the award winner and the person who nominates the award winner will be invited to attend the annual award ceremony.

Questions? Contact the Alumni Board at听sswalumni@bc.edu.听

Award Recipients

2024 (October)

Sheilah M. Gauch, BA '96, MSW '01
Rebecca Camargo MSW '15

2024 (January)

Scune Carrington, MSW '09
Anne Day Leong, PhD '17

2023

Sarah B. Coughlin, MSW '07
Ngozi Enelamah, MSW '18, PhD '20

2022

Leslie Dominguez-Santos, MSW鈥01
Keith Chan, MSW鈥06 and PhD鈥13

2021

Charlene Luma 鈥03, MSW 鈥05
Charu Stokes-Williams, PhD 鈥11

2020

LCDR Monique Worrell-Oriola 鈥03, MSW 鈥06
Michael Grinnell, MSW 鈥16, LCSW
Marvin Toliver, MSW 鈥16, LSW
Josh McNeil, MSW 鈥15, LCSW
Jesse Wiltey, MSW 鈥16

2019

Tanya Sharpe, PhD 鈥07
Lamar Polk, MSW 鈥09

2018

Mitzi Peterson, MSW 鈥97
Najwa Sado Safadi, Ph.D. 鈥12

2017

Debra Sosin, MSW 鈥77
Nick Teich, MSW 鈥09

2016

Daniel Gill, MSW '06
Judith S. Willison, MSW '87

2015

Colleen Fitzgerald, MSW '11
James A. Martin, MSW '70

2014

Erin McAleer, MSW '05
Amy Vosburg-Casey, MSW/JD '01

Careers & Alumni


Black Leadership Initiative students at the annual BLI retreat

BCSSW Careers

Our dedicated Career Services staff is committed to the success of our students. They help our students explore promising opportunities, connect with potential employers, polish resumes, and more. Additionally, professors provide support as faculty mentors and work collaboratively with students. There are so many ways for students to get connected with BCSSW alumni around the globe.听

Latinx Leadership Initiative students at the diploma ceremony

BCSSW Alumni

There are many ways to continue to stay connected to the md传媒国产剧 College School of Social Work after graduation.听Sharing your expertise through field placement opportunities, offering your guidance for mock interviewing, or committing your whole self听to the mentoring program are just some of the great ways for alumni to stay involved.

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