Hello Region I Members:
Effective July 1st, I resigned my volunteer roles as Director of Region I and member of the NASW California Chapter Board of Directors to focus on enjoying paternity leave. Since starting graduate school and joining NASW in 2006, I have been a local volunteer leader, moving up to eventually chair the Long Beach Unit in 2009.
In 2011, I was honored to be nominated and elected to the board of directors and re-elected in 2014. Volunteering with NASW has made an incredible impact on my career. Having access to smart and dedicated social work mentors from a wide variety of practice areas helped inspire self-confidence that led into a senior clinical role with the VA. My last two years in office saw wonderful leadership development with Student Fellow Christa Tipton graduating into the profession, Dr. Jo Brocato stepping up to chair the renewed Long Beach unit at CSULB, Chairperson Shantel Vachani bringing life to the new and remarkable Los Angeles Unit at USC, and Assistant Director Brian Kaufman spending countless hours hosting events and engaging social workers in the community. Seeing so much activity and growth in the region convinced me that it’s a safe time to step aside and let a new leader gain from service to our Region and Chapter.
I am pleased to let you know that the Chapter Executive Committee has approved the appointment of Rosemary Alamo to serve as interim director of Region I until June 2017.
Rosemary Alamo is a Clinical Associate Professor with the USC School of Social Work. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Masters in Social Work from the University of Southern California. Rosemary is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and is currently enrolled in a doctoral program with Arizona State University in Behavioral Health. She has more than 18 years of experience providing direct practice and management in both non-profit and county agencies, developing and implementing programs for children, youth and families. She served for approximately 10 years as a psychiatric social worker with the Los Angeles Unified School District providing crisis intervention, mental health consultation, case management services, advocacy, psycho-education, individual and family and group counseling. Rosemary has supervised federal, state and private grants that have involved comprehensive and substantial collaborations among non-profit organizations, community and political stakeholders. Rosemary has ample experience providing professional development/workshops to school administrators and staff, parents, children, transitional age-youth, community-based organizations in the areas of mental illness, suicide, advocacy, youth and parent empowerment. She has also facilitated numerous trainings on evidence-based interventions to include: Motivational Interviewing (MI), Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT), Problem Solving Therapy (PST) and Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT). In addition, Rosemary is as a board member with the Los Angeles Police Department, Hollenbeck Police Activities League.
Thank you to Rosemary, Brian and all the leaders in Region I and the Chapter, for giving me this chance to enjoy time with family. I will still be around as a member of the Chapter Ethics Committee and look forward to another chance at volunteer service in the future. I encourage all members to seek out opportunities for service to our professional association. You will gain much from the time and energy invested.
