A free public symposium, “Influencing Government Policy 2008,” at Rutgers University in Newark, will examine ways to use political and social action to effectively impact government leaders and government policies. The Feb. 29 program will begin at 9 a.m., after a continental breakfast, and conclude at 1: 35 p.m. with remarks from event organizer Paul Shane, a professor in the Social Work Department of Rutgers in Newark. The program will take place in the Multipurpose Room of the Paul Robeson Campus Center, 350 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. A full agenda and list of speakers follows.
The program is co-sponsored by the Rutgers-Newark Social Work Department, the Social Work Student Organization, the New Jersey Baccalaureate Social Work Education Association and the New Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers.
8:15 Continental Breakfast & Registration
8:45 WELCOMING REMARKS & GREETINGS
Dr. Phylis Peterman, Department of Social Work-Rutgers-Newark
Walter Kalman, MSW-Executive Director-NASW-NJ
Edna Davie, Symposium Coordinator and President,
Social Work Student Org.-Rutgers-Newark
PANEL: Government Policy Issues and their Impact
9:00 Sr. Barbara Aires, S.C.
9:30 William Waldman, MSW
10:00 Staci Berger
10:30 Rawaa Albilal, MSW
11:10-12:10 WORKSHOPS: Social Service Providers and their Issues
Education: Kassandra Pantoja, MA, ABD
Homelessness: Mabel Elmore
Children with Disabilities: Jennifer Rosen Valverde, Esq., MSW
Women’s Issues: Erin Whitham
12:30:-1:30 SESSION II Workshops Repeated
MEETING: NJBSWEA
1:35 CONCLUDING REMARKS- Dr. Paul G. Shane
OUR SPEAKERS:
SR. BARBARA AIRES is the General Treasurer for the Sisters of Charity and their liaison to the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility. Sr. Barbara is a member of the Ethics in Investment Committee, which was especially effective in convincing nearly two hundred American corporations to divest in South Africa to advance the end of apartheid.
WILLIAM WALDMAN was recently elected as President of the New Jersey Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and has served the state of New Jersey as Director of the Division of Youth & Family Services and as Commissioner of the Department of Human Services under Gov.’s James Florio and Christine Todd Whitman.
STACI BERGER is currently the Advocacy Coordinator for the Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey.
RAWAA ALBILAL is the Director of State Planning, Resource Development and Social Services at the Newark Division of Health and Human Resources.
KASSANDRA PANTOJA is the Chief Operating Officer at YouthBuild, Newark and former Program & Evaluation Manager for the Urban League of Essex County. She is also a Co-Founder of IMA Foundation of Atlanta, GA.
MABEL ELMORE is the director of the Newark YMCA Homeless Shelter
JENNIFER ROSEN VALVERDE is an accredited social worker, licensed attorney and Professor at Rutgers Law School whose specialty includes the representation of indigent parents of children with disabilities in early intervention and special education matters, and provides community outreach, training, education and advocacy in these areas of the child welfare system.
ERIN WHITHAM is a senior social work student from Seton Hall University who is the program director for the campus Women’s Center.
Media Contact: Edna Davie
201-658-4355
E-mail: egdavie@yahoo.com