Entries are chronological based on submission date.
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Shreya Mandal, M.S.W. '99 celebrated her twentieth anniversary becoming a qualified trauma expert witness in federal immigration court. She later expanded to the New York Unified Court System, New Jersey, and Florida State Court.
Current first-year student Molly Bogin released her new EP, "Attachment Cycle". From studying neuroscience at Wesleyan University with plans for medical school, to moving to New York City and LA to study music, she's bringing together her neuroscience and music background at SSW. Read her interview with MassLive here.
Jennifer C. Jones, M.S.W. '00, Ph.D., won the University of Pennsylvania's School of Social Policy & Practice 2025 Excellence in Teaching Award for her work in building a just world, and for her commitment to the "unity of the global poor and dispossessed organizing across color lines to fight for everyone’s economic human rights." She co-founded Rising Caps Collective in 2021 with Aisha Mohammed, supporting expansive healing to address traumatic legacies of colonization, slavery, and capitalism.
Current second-year M.S.W. student Rena Schwartz won the 2025 Mt. Washington Road Race in Pinkham Notch, NH, with a time of 32:33. She finished seventh in 2024, and trains in Boulder Colorado when she's not at Smith College. She was previously a Nordic skier at Dartmouth College and competed in the World Junior Championships and Under-23 World Championships.
Amy Bloom, M.S.W. '98, New York Times best-selling author, has just released a new novel, "I'll Be Right Here", a multi-generational historic novel focused on Algerian siblings in Paris during World War II which is profiled in the New York Times. It follows her previous book, In Love: A Memoir of Love and Loss, a best-selling memoir on her life with her husband Brian, and their experiences facing his death together, including traveling to Switzerland for assisted suicide after his Alzheimer's diagnosis.
Berkshire Health Systems (BHS) announced the election of Ashley Benson, M.S.W. '09, founder and owner of Optimal Healing, LLC to the BHS board of trustees. Benson is a psychotherapist, consultant, and clinical supervisor. A dedicated mental-health professional with over two decades of experience in social work and clinical practice, she founded her practice in 2019 to provide holistic health resources to the community and formally established Optimal Healing in 2022. She specializes in trauma-focused care and the treatment of children, adolescents and families and is committed to continuous learning and leadership. She holds two post-graduate certifications: Advanced Clinical Social Work Supervision from SSW and Advanced Practice with Children & Adolescents from Springfield College.
Alison Mitchell, Ph.D. '20, Phuongloan Vo, Ph.D. '24, Carolyn Mak, Ph.D. '16, and Judi Josiah Martin, Ph.D.'18 collaborated in a CSWE presentation and publication. The article, “From Turmoil to Transformation: Advancing Anti-Oppressive Social Work Education in an Era of Instability” was published online June 18, 2025 by the Journal of Teaching in Social Work, Volume 45, Issue 3.
