The Silver Black Alumni Network (S-BAN) has been selected to receive the 2021 Event of the Year award from the New York University Alumni Association (NYUAA) for their February 2021 “Black History Month Workshop Series: Community, Connection, & Celebration.” NYUAA will recognize SBAN, which is led by Ebonee Mears, Nerija Rosemond, and Lauren Stair, all MSW ’20, at the annual NYU Alumni Volunteer Recognition event during NYU Alumni & Parents Weekend from October 21-24, 2021.
S-BAN designed the award-winning workshop series to highlight and celebrate Blackness in the social work profession, including how Blackness impacts social work practice, how it shows up in the workplace, and the importance of authenticity in practice. The series included a kickoff event featuring a virtual meetup with Black social workers; a virtual interactive collective healing workshop; a virtual networking happy hour; and a concluding event called “Black Parade: Celebrating Us.” The series achieved its goal of promoting connection, community, and celebration among the dozens of Black social work students and alumni who participated.
Ebonee, Nerija, and Lauren founded S-BAN in spring 2021 with Ymani Hawkins, also MSW ’20, to promote, support, and celebrate the community-centered initiatives of Black NYU Silver alumni. The four had been the 2019-20 leaders of Silver’s Black Women’s Social Work Coalition and as the year came to an end, they recognized a need for a similar space of love and sharing for Black alumni to continue their connections as social work professionals.
“Congratulations to Ebonee, Nerija, Lauren, and all the members of Silver Black Alumni Network for receiving this recognition and for their creativity and commitment to their fellow Silver Black alumni,” said Dean Neil B. Guterman. “S-BAN is a vital part of the Silver community and what it has achieved in its first year of existence is remarkable.”
Follow S-BAN on Instagram to keep up on all the group’s activities. To see S-BAN receive its award at NYUAA’s virtual NYU Alumni Volunteer Recognition event, you may register for free for NYU Alumni and Parents Weekend 2021.
