Scores of macro practice social workers and students will gather at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis beginning Thursday for the first in-person conference since the Covid-19 pandemic. The four-day Macro United Conference, organized by Influencing Social Policy, will bring together social work educators, policymakers, practitioners, and students to address the many complex issues facing our polarized society. The conference theme is: Rising Together to Protect Our Rights. We have witnessed assaults on the rights of Americans through voter suppression, denial of services and equal treatment for LGBTQ+ people, the right to sensible gun control, and with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the right for women to have autonomous control over their bodies, to name a few.
“Our goals for this year’s conference are to explore innovative macro-focused teaching and research, provide networking opportunities, and strengthen the field of macro social work,” stated Dr. Pilar Homer, board president for Influencing Social Policy. The conference opens at 8:00 a.m. Thursday morning with breakfast for the Teaching Institute’s day-long schedule of panels and presentations focusing on developing knowledge, skills, and frameworks useful for effective classroom learning. It culminates with a 4:00 p.m. reception, immediately preceding the full conference opening plenary at 5:00 p.m.
The keynote speaker for the conference is Rebeccah L. Bennett, founder of several enterprises, including Emerging Wisdom, a St. Louis-based community and organization development consulting firm that helps individuals, groups, and organizations, find their paths to empowerment. Recognized as a visionary strategist and master communicator, Ms. Bennett has advised and coached thousands of people during her 20-year career. Her client list includes Microsoft, Anheuser-Busch, St. Louis Public Schools, and the Clark-Fox Policy Institute at the Brown School. She will address the conference theme in her presentation.
A highlight of the conference will be Friday morning’s conference kickoff visit to the Delmar DevINe, a 310,000-square-foot innovation hub containing office space for more than 30 nonprofits tenants, meeting space for community groups, retail space, and 150 housing units for local professionals invested in the neighborhood’s future. The project was envisioned by Build-A-Bear Workshop Founder Maxine Clark, who founded the Clark-Fox Policy Institute at the Brown School. She is expected to provide a facility tour during which conference attendees will interact with community residents.
Another highlight of the conference will be the presentation of the second annual Jack Rothman Award for Structural Change Practice during a luncheon on Saturday, June 3, in the Clark-Fox Forum at Hillman Hall. The Special Commission to Advance Macro Social Work, co-chaired by Drs. Darlyne Bailey and Terry Mizrahi, administers the $2,000 award presented to social workers “seeking transformative structural change in society by changing policies and procedures to benefit those suffering inequalities.” The award is funded through the generosity of Jack and Judith Rothman. Dr. Rothman is known nationally and internationally for his work in community organizing and his conceptualization of the “Three Models of Community Organization Practice.”
This year’s awardees are Tam E. Perry, MSW, PhD, and Melissa Draughn, LMSW, at the Senior Housing Preservation-Detroit Coalition. Dr. Perry is the Research Director, and Melissa Draugn is the Director of Social Work at Hannan Center, one of the lead agencies in the coalition, which has worked with government officials using media and other advocacy tools to develop a strategy to preserve housing for Detroit’s seniors at risk of displacement, resulting in Detroit’s Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and the creation of an Affordable Housing Leverage Fund.
Board members of CRISP’s Social Work Democracy Project will lead a 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning discussion titled Whither Political Social Work, on the future engagement of social workers in legislative and political settings.