2021 Annual Program Meeting (APM) Speakers
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Loretta RossVisiting Associate Professor, Smith College, Program for the Study of Women and Gender
Opening Plenary Session—Thursday, November 4
What if we called people in, rather than called them out? Publicly shaming individuals with whom we disagree has become so easy, especially with the use of social media, which allows outrage to build incredibly quickly. Yet this practice does little to solve issues, educate people, and allow our society to progress.
About the Speaker
Loretta Ross is an award-winning, nationally-recognized expert on racism and racial justice, women's rights, and human rights. Her work emphasizes the intersectionality of social justice issues and how intersectionality can fuel transformation.
Ross is a visiting associate professor at Smith College in Northampton, MA, in the Program for the Study of Women and Gender, teaching courses on white supremacy, race and culture in America, human rights, and calling in the calling out culture. -
Dr. Darlyne BaileyProfessor and Dean Emeritus, Bryn Mawr College, Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research
Carl A. Scott Memorial Lecture—Friday, November 5
The multidimensional COVID-19 statistics remain staggering and unforgettable. Relatedly, 2020 is memorialized for bringing into indisputable awareness the historic “macro viruses” of our country’s numerous manifestations of inequalities and disparities, with racial inequities at the center of them all. From the outset, these traumas were exacerbated by unrelenting vitriolic messages, further igniting feelings and behaviors of anger, confusion, and, most notably, fear. This Carl A. Scott Memorial Lecture will acknowledge these realities and the multigenerational longevity of their impacts. Dr. Bailey will suggest that the movement from identifying as victims to identifying as survivors can be aided by remembering those who broke through the immobilizing chains of fear and going forward, wiser, gained strength in solidarity. Further facilitating the journey, this lecture will present four pathways connected by the art and science of hope and possibility. Dr. Bailey will bring attendees together to discover ways to bring their desired futures closer to reality and will challenge them to ask, “What if?”
About the Speaker
Darlyne Bailey, PhD, is professor and dean emeritus; director, Social Justice Initiative; and special assistant to the president for community partnerships at Bryn Mawr College, Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research. -
Dr. Debra Furr-HoldenAssociate Dean for Public Health Integration, Michigan State University
Environmental Justice Plenary Lecture—Friday, November 5
This plenary session will focus on “environmental racism” and how systemic racism creates and amplifies crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Flint water crisis.
About the Speaker
Dr. Debra Furr-Holden is the associate dean for Public Health Integration, C.S. Mott Endowed Professor of Public Health, and director of the Division of Public Health at Michigan State University. She is also the director of the Flint Center for Health Equity Solutions, funded by the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. Dr. Furr-Holden is a classically trained epidemiologist who addresses the nation’s greatest public health challenges, especially among minorities in racially- and economically-segregated communities. Among her many awards, Dr. Furr-Holden is the recipient of the 2006 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (Office of the White House). -
Dr. Abye TasseChief of Mission of Expertise France, TELEMA Project
Hokenstad International Lecture—Saturday, November 6
From Principle to Action: Promoting Equality in Drastically Unequal Societies
One of the pillars of the social work profession is the principle of equality. Thus, social workers and social work educators are firmly engaged in the reduction, if not eradication, of inequalities, frequently at the micro level. However, this work most often occurs in the context of societies in which disparities between groups and communities are structurally supported and maintained. This hard reality limits the effectiveness of efforts to make the principle of equality a reality. This lecture will present a novel approach that seeks to overcome these challenges through sustained action at multiple levels within a society, including the public and private sectors, community leaders, and key actors in the national and international arenas. The presentation will include transformative experiences currently underway to empower individuals and communities and build capacity on a large scale in the Republic of Congo.
About the Speaker
Dr. Abye Tasse is chief of mission of expertise France for the TELEMA Project in the Republic of Congo. He has more than 30 years of experience in social work education and practice, primarily in Europe and Africa. He has conducted research and published extensively in the areas of migration and social work, transformative social work education, practices to achieve the eradication of poverty, and the empowerment and capacity building of social work education programs. For two decades Dr. Tasse has been engaged in the design and implementation of innovation programs to structure and promote social work education in France, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Cameroon, Comoros, and the Republic of Congo. He is the first person of non-Western origin to hold the position of president of the International Association of Schools of Social Work (2004–2008). He presently serves as coordinator of the development of the Global Agenda 2020–2030 for Social Work and Social Development.
