Magazine 2021

What a year. When we published our 2020 magazine last May we were all still adapting to the pandemic: getting the hang of Zoom, adjusting to wearing masks, and wondering whether Fall classes would be online or in person. The racial and economic injustices of the pandemic also were becoming more...Read more about A message from the Dean

"The pandemic lays bare what we already knew," Associate Professor Tina Sacks said in a radio interview about the impact of racial inequity during the pandemic and the vaccine rollout.

In the wake of the George Floyd protests, Dean Linda Burton asked the...Read more about A Change is Gonna Come: Race and Social Justice at Berkeley Social Welfare

Berkeley Social Welfare's Social Welfare, Sports, and Society Initiative — the first of its kind in a school of social welfare — will integrate social work knowledge and practice both with the sports industry and with community advocacy, policy, and research. The ultimate goal is to improve the...Read more about Sports as a tool for social change

As a medical social worker, Katie Savin was struck by the differences in patient experience between her work in the Stanford Medical Center ICU and in palliative care at San Francisco General. "The two hospitals were only one CalTrain stop apart, but it could have been two different countries....Read more about Politicizing Care: Katie Savin (PhD '21) examines equity, disability, and economic justice from a community-based lens

When the pandemic closed schools in March 2020, Brian McGhee found himself bagging breakfasts and lunches for students at West Oakland Middle School and providing other support at McClymonds High School. As a social worker, he knew that "once we feed families, then we can talk about educating...Read more about Planting seeds: Brian McGhee (BASW '91) on school social work and West Oakland community power

Bob Teague, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Student Services, is retiring this spring after 11 years at Berkeley Social Welfare and 22 years in the UC system. We asked him a few questions about his career and his time in Haviland Hall. This interview has been edited for length and clarity....Read more about Career Transitions: Bob Teague, Assistant Dean for Admissions and Student Services

Dean Linda Burton on the need to work diligently to bring more men of color into the field of social work: "This fundamental gap in representation of men of color is responsible for a tremendous loss in our ability to best serve this critical population... Moreover, Black men need to be at...Read more about Op-ed by Dean Burton: "Social work needs more men of color"

Field Consultant and Lecturer Erica Gomes joined Berkeley Social Welfare in August 2019. She is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been working in the non-profit sector providing clinical social work services for the past 20 years. She started her career as a Domestic Violence...Read more about New Faces: Field Consultant and Lecturer Erica Gomes

Lecturer and Field Consultant Patti Park is a licensed clinical social worker with a Master's in Social Welfare and a Doctorate in Psychology. She has extensive experience in executive and senior leadership positions in community mental health organizations throughout Los Angeles County...Read more about New Faces: Lecturer and Field Consultant Patti Park

Field Consultant and Lecturer Robert Watts III obtained his MSW from Berkeley in 2013. In addition to several years of employment at Seneca Family of Agencies as a counselor and therapist, Robert was a leading social worker at New Haven Unified School District (Union City, CA), where he...Read more about New Faces: Field Consultant and Lecturer Robert Watts III

Carla Richmond, LCSW, obtained her MSW from Hunter College in 2000. In her 20 years of practice experience, she has focused on trauma treatment in a wide variety of settings including juvenile, adult, community, and mental health settings. She remains employed at UCSF's Trauma Recovery Center...Read more about New Faces: Lecturer and Field Consultant Carla Richmond