Meet NASW Field Organizer Alicia Dienst, MSW

Alicia Dienst, MSW was recently hired as a field organizer for the National Association of Social Workers. In this position for the NASW Political Action for Candidate Election (PACE), she will be engaging and mobilizing NASW members to participate in campaigns and vote in the 2018 general election

She believes in her slogan “Social workers do it in the community,” which she had made into a sticker. She graduated from Sacramento State with a master’s degree in social work and has been an active member of the local NASW unit for three years. She recently served as the Assistant Regional Director of Region D and the chair of the Sacramento Unit.

A proud California native, Alicia was born and educated in Stockton and has lived in Sacramento for more than 20 years. She counts social justice and community and organizational wellness as her main passions in life and has spent significant time working on community and local and state political concerns.

When Alicia was working toward her undergraduate degree at Sacramento State, she became active in campus politics. One of her housemates at the time was studying graduate level social work. Alicia found the institutional and systemic discussions in social work gave shape to her burgeoning interest in human rights. Since then, she has worked in micro, mezzo and macro levels of social work in youth transitional housing services case management, local community development, union organizing, and state public policy. She has also participated in campaigns for reproductive rights and progressive candidates in state and local races.

When not advocating for ways to improve the lives of Californians and increase equity in access to services and resources, Alicia can be found at the local farmers’ markets, her co-op, meeting with a local meditation group, doing Aikido, reading, writing, riding her bicycle, drinking chai lattes, and spending time with her boyfriend of six years, Stephen, and his 12 year-old daughter, Stori.

Alicia also loves music, primarily protest music that supports social justice and previously sang with a small group of women who performed topical songs, primarily for community.