Alumni as Guides

Since NYU Silver’s founding, more than 20,000 alumni have elevated lives around the world, addressing the concerns of those who are most vulnerable. Many of our alumni also remain actively engaged with the School, nurturing current students as practicum instructors, adjunct faculty, presenters at career and professional development programs, mentors in the job search, and more.

Adjunct Associate Professor Caroline Werner with a student in class

Giving the Priceless Gift of Time

“The beauty of NYU is that you’re still connected even after you graduate,” explained Erica Sandoval, LMSW, MSW ’11, the Founder of Sandoval CoLab, creator and editor of Latinx in Social Work, and past President of the National Association of Social Workers, NYC Chapter. She has been a Practicum Instructor for our students, a guest speaker in Dr. Linda Lausell Bryant’s community organizing class, and has worked with our offices of Diversity, Equity, Career & Professional Development, Inclusive Engagement and Student Life, and Global and Lifelong Learning to developing programs that support Latinx and other students and practitioners of color. Said Erica, “I love giving back with time, which is so priceless.”

Erica Sandoval Headshot
Erica Sandoval
MSW ’11,
Founder, Sandoval CoLab, and Creator/Editor, Latinx in Social Work

Training MSW Students for Social and Political Action

As the founder and longtime Executive Director of the not-for-profit Urban Neighborhood Services, Dr. Mathylde Frontus, BS ’98/MSW ’99, was also an NYU Silver Adjunct Lecturer teaching a semester-long course she designed called Advocacy and Social Justice. After her election to the New York State Assembly as an insurgent in November 2018 and throughout her two terms in office, she maintained her commitment to the MSW students following in her footsteps. Despite her legislative responsibilities and busy public schedule, Former Assemblymember Frontus came back to teach an intensive elective called Political Social Work for Advocacy and Social Change, which she created based on her own experience running for office and serving in the legislature.

Dr. Frontus with students in the Advocacy and Social Justice Course
Dr. Mathylde Frontus
with Advocacy and Social Justice students

Social Worker’s Survival Kit

At our 2019 Convocation ceremony, Adjunct Assistant Professor Kelsey Louie, MSW ’01,  who is now CEO of The Door and Broome Street Academy, welcomed the graduates into the NYU Silver alumni network and had them each look beneath their seats to find what he termed a “Social Worker's Survival Kit.” Contents included “A Mirror, to remind you to be self-reflective... A Blow Pop, to remind you that sometimes things are different on the inside than how they appear on the outside... and an Eraser, to remind you that you will make mistakes ‒ and everybody deserves a second chance.” Watch the video to find out what other social worker essentials were inside!

Students opening the "Social Worker's Survival Kit"
Social Worker’s Survival Kit

Leveraging Knowledge of Silver and Social Work Practice to help Students Flourish

To create a more inclusive student experience, our Office of Career & Professional Development launched the Alum-in-Residence Program, which brings MSW graduates who are driving change in the field back to Silver to engage with students from an identity that they share and identify opportunities for the School to address unmet needs. Inaugural Alum-in-Residence Luisa Lopez, MSW ’18, is the President of the Latino Social Work Coalition and Scholarship Fund and Director of Social Services and Communications at The Urban Outreach Center of NYC. Drawing on her nuanced understanding of the School and profession, she supported Latinx students and provided concrete recommendations to improve their Silver experience.

Luisa Lopez Headshot
Luisa Lopez
MSW ’18
President, Latino Social Work Coalition and Scholarship Fund

Passing the Torch in Palliative Care

As an MSW Fellow in our Zelda Foster Studies Program in Palliative and End-of-Life Care, Avery Levine, MSW ’19, did her second-year practicum placement at Mount Sinai Hospital’s Inpatient Adult Leukemia Program. There she was supervised by Oncology Social Worker Emily Sherlock, MSW ’12, who was both a Zelda Foster MSW Fellow and a Zelda Foster Leadership Fellow. Avery went on to receive the Association of Oncology Social Work’s 2019 Palliative Care and End-of-Life Scholarship, presented each year to an exceptional MSW student with a demonstrated interest in end-of-life care – an honor which Emily herself received in 2012!  

Avery Levine, MSW '19, and Emily Sherlock, MSW ’12
Avery Levine, MSW '19, and Emily Sherlock, MSW ’12

Preparing MSW Students to Apply Neuroscience to Social Work

As the Executive Director of Hunts Points Alliance for Children (HPAC), NYU Silver alum Natasha Atkins, MSW ’18, secured a $50,000 grant from the RTW Charitable Foundation to launch a mental health program for children at PS 48 in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the South Bronx. Included in the grant was funding to provide two NYU Silver social work interns stipends and training in neurobiology for mental health practitioners to help HPAC team members implement the program, which is rooted in scientific research on trauma and brain development.

Close up of Natasha Atkins from the elbows up standing in a vast courtyard with ornate buildings and other people in the distance. She is a Black woman with short, dark hair wearing a black poncho over a yellow shirt.
Natasha A. Atkins, MSW '18
Executive Director, Hunts Point Alliance for Children