Call for Nominations: 2023 California Social Work Hall of Distinction

The California Social Welfare Archives (CSWA) is accepting nominations for the 2023 California Social Work Hall of Distinction! Each year, the Hall of Distinction seeks to recognize individuals whose body of work has made outstanding contributions to advancing the social work profession and/or social work practice in California and bettered Californians’ lives.

We encourage you to nominate an individual who has earned a Master of Social Work and has demonstrated support of social work values and the NASW Code of Ethics. Nominations are accepted at any time but must be submitted by February 15 to be considered for the current year.

Interested folks can nominate two different ways:

Nomination and Selection Process

• Nominations are accepted at any time but must be submitted by February 15 to be considered for the current year.
• Current Hall of Distinction Committee members are not eligible for induction.
• The induction class will be announced in the spring in NASW-CA News.
• If a nominee is not selected for the current year’s induction class, submitted materials are held over for automatic review, for up to five years. Nominators are notified of the committee’s decision and are invited to supplement and update the nomination submission in between selection cycles.

Guidelines for Selection

The Hall of Distinction induction event coincides with the NASW-CA Annual Conference, which alternates between northern and southern California venues. Honorees are generally selected from the geographic region where the induction ceremony will be held in order to facilitate the attendance of inductees and their guests. Those selected for induction are:

• Original founders of the profession by virtue of developing standards or programs,
• Those who made an extraordinary contribution to professional development, and
• Those who, by exemplary practice, served as role models for other social workers.

Selection is based on evidence provided that the nominee has contributed to the social work profession in any of the following ways:

• Exceptional leadership in social work practice and education, research, or social policy in California.
• Risk-taking to achieve outstanding results in social policies or programs, particularly during controversial historical periods.
• Effective advocacy against potentially harmful social policies on behalf of clients and communities, and in extending social programs to underserved populations.
• Extraordinary contributions to social work practice or application of techniques.
• Initiating innovative research or programs producing positive, tangible results over a period of time.
• Lived experience and stories of resilience will be weighed equally with professional achievements to ensure the embodiment of whole-person models of honoring human social work experience and successes.

Please help us distribute the nomination form to your agency workers, supervisors, and network! We want to make sure that our broad social work community can participate and nominate themselves or others.

Please contact California Social Welfare Archives at cswa@usc.edu with any questions.