To the Members of the GWSCSW,

The Board of Directors would like to Thank You for your support of the Society over the past months and bring you up to date on events of the past months. 

As you know, President Lisa Kays resigned her position on October 19, 2022. Karla Abney, our current Vice President, is now the Interim President. She has graciously agreed to remain in this role until the search and vote for a new President is completed. Due to a change in the Bylaws last year, a President must now possess a clinical license (e.g., LCSW, LICSW), and Karla is an LMSW working toward her clinical licensure. 

The Board of Directors met for a special meeting on October 29 at which time we were able to talk through issues and concerns of the past months, and its effects on the Society and the membership, in order to ensure that there is no interruption in the mission of the Society nor services provided to our membership. At the same meeting, the new Social Justice Branch became official. The Social Justice Branch will continue to address such issues of antiracism, institutional racism as currently being addressed with the recent ASWB report, and other social justice concerns including issues of importance to the LBGTQ+ community, Women,  and other marginalized communities.

Despite recent events, the Society continues to operate as before, offering a Listserv for members to communicate with other members, sponsoring a wide variety of continuing education events, as well as continuing our legislation and advocacy work, including coordinating with our lobbyists on legislative issues of concern to Social Work. We plan to continue and increase the number of Society networking events and opportunities to connect socially, as well as offering our mentorship program, low-cost therapy for MSW students, and continue plans to establish a low-cost supervision program.

The discussion, ideas, and suggestions shared via the listserv during the past months are greatly appreciated. There are plans to hold a GWSCSW Town Hall in the new year, to provide a forum to meet with our membership, to hear your ideas and concerns and discuss topics of interest to all. This will also be an opportunity to get to know your Board of Directors and learn of the volunteer opportunities within each Branch. There are several leadership positions currently available (e.g., Education Branch Director, Social Media Chairperson), to learn more on these positions and others, please contact the Interim President for more information. Please take the next step and join a Committee of interest to you, it is meaningful work.

Thank You again for your support. 

Karla J. Abney, MSW, MSN, LMSW
karla.j.abney@gmail.com