October 2025 Dean's Note

At the second annual Dean’s Tea on Oct. 7, I had the opportunity to connect with GSSW alumni and former faculty and staff, and welcome members of our new Board of Advisors. I was also honored to make two special announcements. The first was regarding a generous new bequest from alumna and Dean’s Circle member Jana Edwards (MSW ’78) and her husband, Rick Poppe. The gift will support the GSSW Clinical Chair Fund, which will enable GSSW to continue delivering innovative, responsive and relevant clinical social work education. Second, I was privileged to announce The Barbara Kreisman Community Impact Fund. Dean’s Circle and Board of Advisors member Barbara Kreisman awarded the first installment to GSSW’s Institute for Human–Animal Connection, which is led by Dr. Kevin Morris, executive director, research professor, and American Humane Endowed Chair. This gift will support the commitment of faculty to generate new knowledge, deepen community partnerships and advance courageous ideas and actions that unlock human potential, promote equity and foster thriving, sustainable communities. Please join me in thanking these donors for their vision and leadership.

This fall we also welcomed four new faculty members. Field education is the signature pedagogy of social work education, and we are fortunate to welcome two alumni to our field faculty: Marianne Anderson and Nora Welden. Please read further in this issue about their social work experience and impact. We also welcomed two new tenured faculty. Dr. Colleen Fisher has joined GSSW as a professor and associate dean for diversity, equity and inclusion (you will find a story about her research in next month’s newsletter). Dr. Shetal Vohra-Gupta has joined us as an associate professor and the new executive director of GSSW’s Center for Equity Research (formerly Equity Labs). Read more in this issue about her research, which focuses on health disparities and the social and cultural determinants of health.

In our latest Brave Ideas for Social Change podcast episode, GSSW Board of Advisors member and breast cancer survivor Diane Simard discusses her work to raise awareness of the unique mental health needs of cancer patients and to transform systems to better meet those needs.

This has been quite a busy time for GSSW, and me, as we continue to strengthen our engagement in Denver and beyond. We co-hosted the Black Health Summit with Connect for Health Colorado, Rose Community Foundation and Mile High United Way. With over 200 participants and five of the eight sessions helmed by GSSW faculty, staff, or alumni, we were proud to be a part of hosting a free event that connected Black communities and service providers with information about accessible and affordable health care choices and a space designed to foster dialogue, share insights and develop actionable strategies for a healthier future.

I had the pleasure of serving on a Colorado Black Roundtable (CBRT) panel, the Role of Youth Serving Organizations in the Black Community, with Denver Mayor Mike Johnston, Denver District Attorney John Walsh, and Colorado Attorney General and gubernatorial candidate Phil Weiser. The panel was part of the Gaining Ground in the Black Community Social Equity Summit organized and moderated by John Bailey CBRT is a statewide organization composed of elected officials, community organizations, faith leaders, educators, businesses, media and concerned citizens and is considered the most influential Black community organization in Colorado.

Dr. Vohra-Gupta and I were honored to be invited by Dr. Dedrick Sims to attend the launch of the Sims-Fayola Foundation Policy and Advocacy Institute — a part of the foundation’s Vision 2030 Strategic Plan. We are excited about upcoming partnerships with Sims-Fayola. Finally, Dr. Fisher and I attended a GlobalMindED gathering at the United Nations. We were privileged to be a part of a small group of academics, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, and first-generation students who spent the day focused on shaping future leaders with an eye toward topics such as equity, innovation, academic accountability and collaboration.

Like the aforementioned events and new opportunities, GSSW will continue to find new ways to advance our social work values and deliver an exceptional social work education. With federal funding for financial aid and research under threat, the generosity of donors like Jana Edwards, Rick Poppe, and Barb Kreisman is more vital than ever. Support like theirs gives us greater financial independence from federal funding.

Finally, it was wonderful to see those of you who attended our reception at the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) Annual Program Meeting in Denver Oct. 23–26. We were honored to celebrate GSSW Dean Emeritus James Herbert Williams, who was named to the National Association of Social Workers 2025 class of Social Work Pioneers. I hope you had a chance to attend some of our faculty, staff and student presentations and visit our “Basecamp GSSW” booth to learn about GSSW’s open tenure track assistant professor position and our doctoral students and candidates who will be searching for faculty positions. Thank you so much for being a part of the GSSW family!

Henrika McCoy, MSW, MJ, PhD
Milton Morris Endowed Dean of Social Work and Professor