Social work leaders gather to accelerate impact

By Erin Lippert, Student Reporter

Over 300 faculty and practitioners of social work management came together at Loyola University Chicago this summer for the Network of Social Work Management’s Annual Conference. This year’s conference focused on “Accelerating Impact: Harnessing the Power of Human, Social, and Financial Innovation.”

The conference, co-hosted by Loyola’s School of Social Work and the Baumhart Center, featured keynote remarks by Chicago Community Trust President and CEO Helene Gayle and YWCA Metropolitan Chicago CEO OF Dorri McWhorter.

The conference also featured a special award for the Susan Crown Exchange (SCE). SCE was given the Partner in Social Innovation Award for its “pioneering leadership in social and emotional learning and its groundbreaking model of building deep, strategic, and sustained partnerships between philanthropy and the social sector to catalyze change.”

Susan Crown created SCE in 2009 to help people acquire the skills needed to thrive in a rapidly changing world by focusing on two program areas: digital learning and social-emotional skill development.

Loyola President Jo Ann Rooney, JD, LLM, EdD, congratulated Crown on this award. “Among the most significant challenges we face in education today is our ability to foster and facilitate the social and emotional learning that students need in order to succeed in both their educational endeavors and in the world,” said Dr. Rooney. “Understanding this challenge and the significant impact when addressed successfully is why I am so pleased that we are recognizing the Susan Crown Exchange with the Partner in Social Innovation Award.”