ONLINE (ZOOM) | Multiple DATEs | JOIN US!
First DATE: January 28TH, 2021 | TIME: 12 PM EST (VIRTUAL)
Our goal is to educate, engage, and mobilize a new generation of social workers, bridging the gap between practice and civic engagement.
About this Event
The Civic Engagement Educational Series seeks to provide a space for political education within the social work field. It is a partnership between Columbia University’s Action Lab and Social Work Votes. As a non-partisan effort that incorporates the social work Code of Ethics, the town halls are designed to cultivate conversations amongst social workers and experts in various fields. These events are open to all Columbia University students and affiliates, social work students from other institutions, social workers from across the country and world, and the general public.
Each month, we will host a new event with different experts from the field. We are open to feedback and suggestions on future topics or facilitators! Our schedule thus far includes:
January 28, 2020 - "So We Have a New President... What Now?": Organizing and Accountability With a New Administration featuring panelists Jaime Estades (Latino Leadership Institute), Dr. Charles Lewis (CRISP), and Ivan Garcia (Make the Road PA) (full bios below)
February 17, 2020 - Lobbying from Home: A (Digital) Activism and Lobbying Workshop (facilitators TBA)
March 25, 2020 - An International Perspective: Civic Engagement Around the World (panelists TBA)
April 15, 2020 - TBD
Columbia University makes every effort to accommodate individuals with disabilities. If you require disability accommodations to attend an event at Columbia University, please contact the Office of Disability Services at (212) 854-2388 or disability@columbia.edu at least 5 days in advance of the event.
If you have questions about the event(s) or would like to contact the organizers, please reach out via email at socialworkvotes@gmail.com. You can find Social Work Votes on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter at @socialworkvotes, or visit our website socialworkvotes.org. Action Lab can be found on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter at @csswaction, or you can visit their website at actionlab.socialwork.columbia.edu.
Panelist bios
Jaime Estades
bio coming soon
Dr. Charles Lewis
Dr. Charles E. Lewis, Jr. is the Director of the Congressional Research Institute for Social Work and Policy (CRISP). During his time on the Hill, serving as deputy chief of staff and communications director for former Congressman Edolphus “Ed” Towns, he was instrumental in creating the Congressional Social Work Caucus with the idea it would be a platform that would allow social workers to have more of a voice in Congress. While on the Hill as the staff coordinator for the Social Work Caucus, Dr. Lewis organized briefings for the National Association of Social Work (NASW), the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) and the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR).
In 2012, he founded CRISP as a 501(c)4 nonprofit, nonpartisan organization to complement the mission of the Social Work Caucus and to ensure its presence on the Hill as Congressional Member Organizations such as the Social Work Caucus must be recertified every two years prior to the start of the new Congress. Following Mr. Towns' retirement in 2013, CRISP, under his leadership continues its works of encouraging and assisting social workers to engage with their Congressional representatives.
Ivan Garcia
Ivan has extensive experience leading successful progressive political campaigns with Make the Road Action and our allies--first in New York, and most recently as MRA’s Pennsylvania Political Director, where he ran one of the state’s largest voter engagement programs. Ivan was born in Mexico and raised in Brooklyn. As a formerly undocumented immigrant, he got involved in politics to address the injustices his family experienced.