Join us for a conversation with alumni on Wednesday, September 28th, 12:30 – 1:30 PM to learn key strategies for effective networking and tips for initiating and maintaining relationships with prospective new contacts. Students will also learn about our Student-Alumni Career Mentoring Program!
Guest Speakers:
Liz Lawrence ’10 – Director, Office of Constituent Relations in the Office of Governor Phil Murphy
Heather Rolon ’11 – Program Supervisor, Outpatient Mental Health at Thrive Behavioral Health
Marlo Tablante ’07 – Head of Sustainability Transparency and Positioning at Meta
Last week, we welcomed four alumni to speak about their path to clinical social work at our virtual panel discussion, Journey to the “C”, which was co-sponsored by the Mental Health Caucus. The discussion covered an array of topics, including clinical supervision, Institute training, and interview preparation.
Ericka currently serves as an Associate Director of Field Education at Columbia University School of Social Work, and also teaches and provides supervision to graduate level students and Field Instructors at CSSW. She is heavily invested in preparing future social work professionals for direct practice with clients and systems by helping them develop a self-care and self- awareness practice, social justice advocacy skills, the capacity to hold and maintain difficult dialogues related to power, race, oppression, and privilege, and an ethical and professional identity.
Sarah Christa Butts, LMSW, is director of public policy at the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), headquarters office in Washington, D.C. NASW is the largest social work organization in the nation, representing the interests of over 700,000 social workers nationwide, with 55 local chapters in states and U.S. territories. Butts is responsible for leading the association’s public policy, political and legislative affairs agenda, overseeing field organizing, working at both the national level and with NASW chapters, political candidates’ fundraising and endorsement efforts, as well as developing and advancing the association’s strategic goals and objectives related to influencing the legislative and executive branches of government. 
Emily Miles is the Chief Policy and Program Officer at FPWA, an anti-poverty, policy and advocacy nonprofit with a membership network of nearly 200 human service and faith-based organizations, where she oversees the development and implementation of a policy agenda that seeks to reduce poverty and promote upward economic mobility for all New Yorkers. In her time at FPWA, Emily has played a lead role in the development and launch of several campaigns and initiatives focused on increasing economic equity across New York City and State through increased access the quality healthcare, criminal justice reform, increased wages for human services workers, and reforming public benefits. In 2015, Emily was honored as a Next Generation Leader by the Human Services Council and a Top 40 Under 40 Rising Star by New York Nonprofit Media.
Christelle N. Onwu is the Lead Advisor for African Communities and an Equal Employment Opportunity Recruitment Strategist at the New York City Commission on Human Rights. She is a 2017 graduate of the Coro Immigrant Civic Leadership Program (ICLP), and serves as an Adjunct Professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she teaches a course on Justice in the Africana World in the Africana Department. She is a Board Member at the Historical Memory Project, CUNY John Jay College. A project which cultivates historical memory to memorialize victims of state- sponsored terror, raise awareness of historical injustices in Latin America and beyond, and foster our collective human rights memory. She is a fierce advocate for under-served populations and a member of the New York City Civic Engagement Commission. 
Dr. John Robertson teaches Social Welfare Policy, the Policy Practice course for policy majors, and Advocacy in Social Work Practice. His interests include community development and organization, employment and family issues, and treatment for people struggling with substance abuse. He is involved in community social work practice in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood and has worked on several national policy research initiatives related to poor families, their employment, family formation, and receipt of public assistance. His publications include “Social Work with Families after PRWORA: Family Systems and Rational Choice Models,” “Relational Discord and Depressive Symptomatology among Non-Marital Co-Parents,” “Using Geographical Information Systems to Enhance Community-Based Child Welfare Services,” “Young Nonresidential Fathers Have Lower Earnings: Implications for Increasing Child Support Payments,” and “Using the Criminal Justice System to Prevent Adolescent Drug Abuse.”
Ashleigh Washington is currently the Senior Director of Learning and Staff Development at Safe Horizon, the nation’s leading victims services agency. She leads training and professional development for the agency’s 900+ employees.
