Social Work News
The Power of Holistic Healing and Wellness
Wanting to make a difference in her adopted home of Syracuse, Johnson founded Half Hood Half Holistic out of a desire to help Black people work on their mental, physical and spiritual well-being. The wellness business curates and centers Black individuals, families and couples, allowing them space to heal and work on treating their holistic, or whole, person.
“The overall goal of Half Hood Half Holistic is to create what we call accessible healing, services that are either low- or no-cost and are relevant to our community and accessible in different ways and on different platforms. Really, this was born out of the fact that in my work with Black and brown folks as a therapist, therapy itself didn’t seem very accessible. It didn’t feel very relevant and in my own practice, I wasn’t serving the community that I felt so close to. I wanted to create something that was very much relevant to that community, while also being culturally sensitive and accessible. Half Hood Half Holistic has been the culmination of that dream and that vision, and it definitely keeps me busy,” Johnson says.
Johnson, a native of Buffalo, New York, earned bachelor’s degrees in Human Development and Family Science and social work and master’s degrees in marriage and family therapy and social work from Falk College, attendeding Syracuse University on a full-ride scholarship, thanks to a program called Say Yes to Education.
The author of the “Self Love Workbook for Black Women,” Johnson discusses what holistic health means to her, what healing looks like for Black people and why it’s important to debunk the stigmas and stereotypes associated with seeking mental health services. She also shares how she helps make holistic healing accessible for all who seek it and the important role holistic healing plays in helping communities heal from racial harm.
’Cuse Conversations with Rachel Johnson
Hello and welcome back to the ‘Cuse Conversations Podcast. I’m John Boccacino, senior internal communications specialist at Syracuse University.
Rachel Johnson:
The overall goal of Half Hood Half Holistic is to create what we call accessible healing. And so things that are either low and no cost, that are relevant to our community and that it is accessible in many different ways and many different platforms. And so really, the baby was born out of the fact that in my work with black and brown folks, as a therapist, therapy itself didn’t seem very accessible. It didn’t feel very relevant. I just was not, in my own practice, serving the community that I felt so close to.
John Boccacino:
Our guest today on the ‘Cuse Conversations Podcast is Rachel Johnson, an author who published a book that is very relevant to what a lot of people are going through when it comes to the issues that we face here. It’s on self love, it’s on holistic healing, and it’s on the power of working on your mental self, your mental health, your mental wellbeing. She recently released a book detailing the importance of self- healing for black women, called the Self-Love Workbook for Black Women. She’s also a two degree recipient from Syracuse University, got a dual from Falk and Child and Family Studies in social work in 2017, and she loved her time on the Hill so much, she got her master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and social work from Falk in 2019.
Rachel, thank you for making the time to join us. How are you holding up these days?
Rachel Johnson:
Thank you so much for that warm introduction. I am doing the best that we can around here.
John Boccacino:
You’ve got a studio, that’s pretty close to the central New York community that’s based on a lot of the work that you’re doing in holistic healing and holistic health. Let’s start with that. You’re the founder of Half Hood Half Holistic, this awesome sounding holistic wellness business. Tell us about the business and how you got started with that.
Rachel Johnson:
Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Yeah, so Half Hood Half Holistic is my baby and currently has five arms, extensions to itself that include of course, direct services. As my background in mental health, I provide coaching, therapy. Also, I have a background in maternal health and so I provide maternal health support, doula services, et cetera. We also have other arms including consulting work for particularly non-profit organizations. I do a lot of non-profit leadership and community based stuff and consulting around diversity and equity. We also have a community based arm, which includes retreats and social wellness events and things like that.
But really, the overall goal of Half Hood Half Holistic is to create what we call accessible healing. And so things that are either low and no cost that are relevant to our community and that it is accessible in many different ways and many different platforms. And so really, the baby was born out of the fact that in my work with black and brown folks as a therapist, therapy itself didn’t seem very accessible. It didn’t feel very relevant. I just was not, in my own practice, serving the community that I felt so close to. And so wanted to create something that was very much relevant to that community that was culturally sensitive and that was accessible. And so Half Hood Half Holistic has been the culmination of that dream and that vision and it keeps me busy.
John Boccacino:
What was the need? What did you find was the need for those services here in the Central New York community?
Rachel Johnson:
Well, I think the biggest need was around connection. So feeling connected to communities and feeling connected to maybe a larger community that was outside of the New York four walls, so to speak. And so, one of the things that we talk about, there is this thing that people will, if they want to go to an event or something, people in this community will say something like, “Who all going to be there?” And it is in an attempt to check for safety and comfortability and figure out, “Do I really want to be in this space?” And we like to say we create spaces where you don’t have to ask, “Who all going to be there?” because it’s supposed to be a space where this is your people. Those are my people.
If Half Hood Half Holistic speaks to you, then you’re going to be with your people. And that sense of connectedness alone is really healing. And feeling connected to services and to providers that get you, that are your kind of people, that alone in Central New York, I feel like is a missed purpose. We have a lot of services, we have a lot of resources, but there’s not that centered connectedness.
John Boccacino:
How did you come up with the name for the business and what do you mean when you say holistic health? What exactly does that mean to you?
Rachel Johnson:
Yeah, that’s a good question. How did I come up with the name of it? It had been something that was like, it describes me, right? It’s my personality. It is the duality of who I am as a black woman. It just encompasses that there are many different aspects or pieces to myself that I wish to bring into every space. It also is just a really cool name. And when I talk about holistic healing, that’s really interesting because the term holistic has been, so to speak, commodified and has been trendy over the last several years. And people have either one, a reaction to the term holistic because they seem to center it in specific things like specific practices or rituals. From my point of view, when I talk about holistic, I really mean all of the things that make you, you. Anything that is like a holistic framework, bring all of that with you.
And so bring all of the past you, the present you, the work you. All of those things influence your health, it influences your decision making, influencing your wellness, all of those things. I don’t want people to present in their healing journey with just one piece of themselves. Some people feel like they have to just show up as one kind of person, then they start to perform in therapy. But really, it’s like bring all of it, it’s holistic. And so we like to target the vision for Half Hood Half Holistic is to be able to offer services that target all of the things, the mind, the body, the spirit, and work that into practices in a way that is maybe nontraditional.
John Boccacino:
It seems like there’s such a stigma around mental health and mental wellness, more so with members of the African American community, African American men and women. It seems like there’s this real stigma. Would you agree that there is this kind of negative stereotype towards getting help for what’s going on in your brain and with your mental wellbeing?
Rachel Johnson:
Absolutely. I think there’s stigma across populations and I think that the United States particularly has a lot of work to do around supporting mental health and mental wellness. It is just recently something that has gained political attention, which then means that money will be backed between it. But I do think that overall, there is stigma. And then when we start to talk about a specialized population, such as black folks, there’s a lot of historical context that influences that stigma or that reinforces that stigma, particularly around mental health and even physical health.
And so when you think about different sectors or sections of populations that have been traditionally traumatized in United States specifically, it does make it very difficult for people to even conceptualize mental health. Even to even conceptualize or think about or even be comfortable with the term, mental health or the phrase mental health, is a long journey for some.
And then what happens then when we have such a fragmented system that is not always culturally competent or fair or accessible or cost friendly, it makes it even more laborsome for a specialized population to be able to recognize they need help and then to seek and gain access to that care. So I do think absolutely, there is a lot of stigma and I think it is about normalizing and having conversations that are not at a high level. It’s being able to pair down some of these concepts and make it realistic and relevant to that population.
John Boccacino:
Do you think that one of the unintended side effects of COVID-19 was people had so much more time on their hands to think and maybe that realization that, “I can get help, I don’t have to go through this by myself”? Do you think that the pandemic maybe helped to take a little bit of that stigma away and shine a light on these very important issues?
Rachel Johnson:
I do think that more recently, between COVID-19, it has highlighted mental health struggles for so much. And I think what really happens is the ways that people are normally used to coping, through work or through social work, social recreation or seeing family members, those all things were either taken away or restricted heavily. And so people were really at a place where I think really needed to come to terms with some of the things because their regular coping mechanisms or outlets had been taken away from them or restricted. And I truly think that during that time, this is when the accessibility of telepsych and teletherapy and talk and text therapy really kicked in. So I do think that in response to that, people started to say, “Well, let me try this thing.” And I also felt like people probably were like, “Well, we don’t have much else to do, so we might as well do this thing in the comfort our own home.”
So I do think there were a lot of people that had started to fight that stigma and come into a space where they wanted to at least try the concept or the framework of therapy. I think people were also, again, looking for connectedness. People wanted to know that they were not alone. People wanted to know that there was somebody that was going to check in on them and that was going to keep tabs on them. And so with the accessibility of virtual services, I think that this is why we are now seeing this culture change around mental health.
John Boccacino:
You think about it, if you’re out of shape, you want to go for a walk, you want to monitor what you eat, your intake. If you’re having issues with your thoughts, you need to work on those. And there’s a lot of resources out there to help you get that required help. How do we normalize going to see a therapist as much as we normalize going to see a medical doctor for an ailment?
Rachel Johnson:
Yeah. I think that’s a perfect analogy. One of the things that I do is teach mental health first aid to community members, particularly focused on youth, but the curriculum expands outside of that. And the analogy, it’s continuously bringing these parallels to, okay, everyone has mental health, just like everyone has a physical health. You can have poor mental health. There’s a spectrum. And I think really, people having the ability to have that concept and grasping, okay, we all have mental health, we all have to do things to maintain our mental health. If we’re not maintaining our mental health, then it may be poor mental health. And then there are subsets of the populations that have diagnoses, just like some people have diabetes, which means they have to manage their physical health in a different way. So it’s the same thing for mental health support.
So I think that concept, being able to grasp, is an awesome one. I also think, talking about youth, kind of being able to go back into a way that we are having conversations with our youth and they are equipped to have conversations with each other around mental health. That is a really big one. I think about what it looks like to talk to your 3, 4, 5 year old about self-regulation, about being able to breathe, about coping skills. I imagine a world where our kiddos grow up and they’re able to regulate and talk about their emotions and say, “I’m triggered right now, I need to step away.” In a way that they’re in control of their emotions and their emotions are not in control of them.
So that’s the other thing that I like to tell people. Sometimes we’re not so comfortable with our emotions and they’re controlling us and we want to be in the driver’s seat, right? We want to make sure that we are the ones that’s in the driver’s seat, that are you in full control of your body, your thoughts and your emotions. That’s the goal. It’s the only goal. You want to be able to get there. And once people can conceptualize, you’re right, power and control is important to me. I want to be the one that dictates my actions. I don’t want to be reactive to my emotions. People start to understand, “Okay, so then what are the tools that I need to get there?” And therapy and mental health support right now is one of those tools.
John Boccacino:
What are some things that people can do that are, at the very baseline level, if they’ve never gone to a therapist but they want to work on themselves? What’s a starter kind of kit to get into this?
Rachel Johnson:
That’s such a good question. I think there are a few things, and there’s no one right or wrong way for sure, to people’s wellness because it’s holistic. I think the more immediate things, or the things that we hear about every day, are things like meditation and journaling. And I even think about, from a holistic standpoint, it is always, it’s like what you eat, it’s how you talk to yourself. It’s being sure to catch some of those negative thoughts. It’s maybe having an accountability partner. It’s being connected and trying not to isolate. So it’s setting boundaries. It’s all of those things.
And I feel like one of the ways that people, in a more immediate way, have been able to find these tools, are through things like YouTube and podcasts and workbooks, things that are very accessible to them and get them to… The use of social media, TikTok, utilizing the resources in front of you to provide you with a level of education or resources that may not be a therapy office. So none of those things are wrong. It is just important to find something and hopefully a collection of things. Your social wellness and your holistic wellness journey should have multiple entities. It shouldn’t just be therapy or just be meditation. If you can create a regimen that works for you with a collection of all of the things, would be helpful.
John Boccacino:
Why do you think that something focused more on the holistic health approach might be better suited for modern mental health needs than say a traditional therapist?
Rachel Johnson:
There are people I think that do go for traditional forms of mental health support, like therapy or psychotropic medications or groups or those sorts of things. And those things absolutely work. And I think the reason why a holistic framework to wellbeing is really important is because in a holistic framework, you can enter from any point. And so you can enter from your physical wellness and then wind up at health. You can enter from your financial wellness, you can enter from your social wellness. It is all encompassing, it is relevant. I tell people all the time, with Half Hood Half Holistic, we offer plenty of services and some people start at what we call Tribe Check-Ins, which is a virtual online group that we host monthly. And so some people just come for Tribe Check-Ins.
Our motto at Half Hood Half Holistic is come for the vibes, stay for the healing. And that is what happens sometimes, that people come because they see themselves in the brand. It speaks to them, they like the people, they like me, they like the personality. They come because they want to learn a little bit more about yoga. They come because they want to learn a little bit more about this. And then they get there and they’re like, “I will stick around. Oh, you offer coaching. Can you help me find a therapist?” Because then everyone in that space is rooted in this understanding of healing. And so maybe you come, we host non-traditional social wellness events in the city of Syracuse themselves.
And we recently had a tea party, a bougie tea party for black women. It was so cool. It was beautiful. People got the chance to dress up. But when we got there, we talked about sex, love, and relationships. We talked about how you learned about these things and why setting boundaries around these things are important and all of those things. And that community will stay. They will go to the next event and they will go to the next event. And if they want additional services, they will seek that out because they’ve found their community.
And so again, when I talk about holistic wellness and why this is non-traditional, because the people, they want, A, to feel like they’ve come to this on their own. That’s a big one. The other reason is because people want it to be relevant to what they actually want and need. They want to be able to identify that for themselves. They don’t want people to identify it for them. So going to non-traditional services, like therapy, would be an identification that you need help with your mental health. Going to a tea party and saying, “I want to be socially connected. And when I got there or when I got connected, I felt like there was additional growth that could happen.”
John Boccacino:
How did you become so interested in this line of work? Because it’s very evident that this is your passion. This is really something that you are so committed to. So how did you get connected with this?
Rachel Johnson:
That’s a great question. I’ve always known that I wanted to support black and brown folks. That is an area of mine that I really was interested in. And I think what I learned very quickly, because of some of history and context around black and brown folks, particularly in the United States, it would be so important to create healing pathways that were more than just for therapy rooms. I learned very quickly that if you’re going to be working with black and brown folks, we have to engage our bodies. We have to talk about what we’re eating, we have to talk about who we’re connected to. We have to set… There’s just so much to be done and so much healing that needs to happen, particularly because black and brown folks deserve that. And so we deserve this non-traditional approach. And so that for me is what led me into my passion.
After I graduated from my studies at SU, I just went on and continued my studies in different things like becoming a doula and doing some maternal health support stuff. Became an herbalist at some point in time and got a really good understanding of what that looks like. And so it was finding other communities. I did a lot of public health stuff in the community and did some non-profit leadership stuff. I think always just furthering my understanding of the work that I like to do, for me, created this holistic platform. So now I can pull from here, I can pull from what I know as a doula, I can pull from what I know as a herbalist and I can get a really good picture or assessment of the work that needs to be done.
John Boccacino:
And again, for more information on the programs that are offered, the website is HalfHoodHalfHolistic.com. That’s HalfHoodHalfHolistic.com. Besides being an entrepreneur, Rachel, you also have an author credit to your background and resume as well. Tell us about the involvement with the Self-Love Workbook for Black Women, how this came to be and what you hope to achieve with it.
Rachel Johnson:
Thank you so much. This is so interesting. That is also something that’s cringey, is the author title. It feels so weird and so distant and I think, the Self-Love Workbook for Black Women, I would love to take credit for the initial thought process, but I cannot. In a way that, there was a publishing company, Costello Media had reached out to me, and I believe other subject matter experts, with air quotes, across the United States. My understanding is that they had an idea, they had conceptualized an idea, they had seen that people were looking for something of this nature. They had seen that self-help books were in, it was a trend. People were searching for and looking for self-help books. And they had seen that the specialized population in need was black women. And so they had reached out to, I believe a few subject matter experts in the area or across the United States and said, “Hey, just submit a writing sample. We think that you would be good at writing this book.”
And I thought it was spam so I didn’t respond. But something in my spirit was like, “Just look it up.” And so I looked it up and I did the initial phone call with the woman that was like the talent scout, so to speak. We wound up doing the process out of nowhere. My writing sample had been chosen and they had it expressed that they really liked my tone and the way that I wrote the narrative and really just gave me a lot of creative control in creating this baby, which is the Self-Love Workbook for Black Women. And so for the next three months, I wrote this book in three months, it was meeting and missing numerous milestones in writing because you would’ve never told me that I would be an author.
When I got rid of school, when I graduated, I would never write another book, I mean another paper. So it was all of the things coming back to me, so to speak. And probably, I think a six month span, we had created this self-love workbook and it recently released in July as a virtual and in-person book. It was definitely a journey to write for a community that not only I love and appreciate, but one that I’m also a part of. So being able to create this workbook took a lot of reflection for myself as well. There was a journey that I had to go through in order to produce this workbook and it also was a journey between… I think there was a lot of healing that had to go in between myself and a lot of the editors and thinking about how, this is a very vulnerable piece to write something and then put it out in the world. And so I’m very proud of it and so far has been okay. We’re still at five stars, so we’ll take that.
John Boccacino:
With a name like your book, it’s obvious that you’ve had some really strong relationships with women in your life, growing up. What role did some of those really strong black women in your family and in your life play in helping you become the person you are today?
Rachel Johnson:
That’s such a great question. Thank you for that. I will mention, one of my favorite parts about the book is that I intentionally utilize, there are case examples in the workbook, and I use the names of my nieces to give them a head nod and pay homage to them. All my nieces are black women in the making, black girls. And then at some point in time I transition to giving a head nod, like a sign of respect, a thing that says, “Hey, I see you,” to some of the influential black women in my life. And so throughout the book, the names, not the stories so to speak, but the names in the book really speak to the black women that are really in my life and have influenced me in some way, shape, or form. So I just want to mention that because that was very intentional. I didn’t just create any names. Those are my babies.
But to your point, how black women have been influential in supporting me, there is no door that’s been open for Rachel Johnson that didn’t involve a black woman. And I think about the first time that, when I was an undergrad, I think about how there were black women that covered me and held me. There were black women in financial aid, that made sure that I had the things that I needed and the resources that I needed. I remember finding mentors in the community, in the Syracuse larger community, that were able to create a narrative that I had not seen before around what it meant for me to be a black woman. I remember my promotions and the first contract that I was ever awarded, the first grant that Half Hood Half Holistic was awarded, came from a black woman, came from a black woman that was investing in me, in the vision.
And so again, without black women, there’s no Rachel Johnson, there is no Half Hood Half Holistic, there is no workbook. I actually serve a good amount of black men in my practice, but a lot of my clients, the people that are rooting for me, the people that are sharing my posts, the people that are liking the comments and all of the things, those are black women. Those are the ones that are supporting me. And so there is no me, there’s no work that I do without black women at the center of it.
John Boccacino:
I want to make a difficult but important segue in this conversation because we’re talking about community, we’re talking about finding community, we’re talking about working on ourselves and the things we want to do to improve. There has been so many instances of racial hatred and bias and discrimination. Our country has a very complicated history with race and it’s been very evident since the pandemic about a lot of the crimes that have taken place. From the deaths of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd to Ahmaud Arbery and Ma’Khia Bryant. There have been so many examples that we’ve seen of racial injustice towards members of our black community. And one of your areas of knowledge that you talk about is holistic healing and how it can help with racial healing. What role do you think holistic healing can play in trying to help our country and our communities deal with and heal from these wounds that we’ve suffered?
Page 7 of 10
Rachel Johnson:
Yeah. There will be no healing if it is not holistic. Because I think about even what it feels like in your body to hear the news that someone had been killed by an unarmed person, black person being killed, what that even sounds like, what it feels like coming out of your voice, your body’s reaction to that. And so we could talk all day about what it may look like or our thoughts around that. But if our body’s not included into that, if we’re not thinking about what that then means when we go home, how does that impact our sleep, how does that impact what we’re eating, then there will not be, any attempts at healing will be short. They will be short.
And so I think holistic healing and racial healing very much go hand in hand. And part of that is because in order to get to holistic healing, you have to recognize that there is a whole person. The basis of holistic healing recognizes that you are more than just one thing or just one kind of person. And that is where racial trauma starts to happen is because we have not, as a country and as individuals, recognize black folks to be human or to be more than one thing.
And so holistic healing would consider that we are more than just our trauma, that we are more than just what we’re portrayed to be, that we are more than just beings, we’re more than just things that things are happening to that we are human and we have a range of emotions and we have a range of reactions and we also have a range of needs. And so really, I think holistic healing also would have to encompass not just the present day us, we would need to be talking about some of the history and context, the historical marginalization and traumatization of black folks that would need to be included in the conversation and then what that then means for future generations. So I think without the framework of holistic healing, racial healing will not be able to be achieved.
John Boccacino:
I want to again make a segue here from a very serious topic to something that might be a little bit more lighthearted, with your university choice of coming to Syracuse. What drew you to the Orange in the first place?
Rachel Johnson:
That’s such an interesting question. I think a lot about my time in my trajectory. For someone who had originally, born in Buffalo, New York. So right down the road, not too far from here. And for someone who, when it was decision making time back when I was a senior, was not sure, did not know much about SU, was not one of those people that were like, “We need to go to SU.” I had actually applied to numerous colleges, some of them HBCUs. And really, what it boiled down to was proximity to my family, was close enough and it was far enough at the same time. And it really, in realistic ways, came down to financial means, which sounds weird if you’re like, “You went Syracuse University because it was financial means.”
But I was very grateful for a program called Say Yes to Education that at that time had stemmed from Buffalo and really offered me free tuition, no cost tuition, and nothing in this life is free. No cost tuition, no cost to me either way to attend Syracuse University. It was the only private school that was on the list. And so for me it was pretty much a decision as a first generation and person to go to college in my immediate family or to go away for college, to do a four year institution, having to do all of the process by my myself, from the application to my own FAFSA, to figuring out where I was going to live and all of the room and board stuff. That was quite a process to navigate.
And then four years later, getting my degrees and advocating for being a nerd and being able to get two degrees at the time. And then again, going through the process and advocating for my right to have another two dual degrees at my master’s program. But I think it all made sense. The reasons why I always studied so many things is because I’m more than just one thing. If in fact my personality has not shined through at this point, there is no just me. There is no just a therapist, Rachel. There is not just one avenue or one thing that I like to study. And so if I can get it all, I will. So I went on and did my master’s program and fell in love, of course, with the Falk community and have always felt supported even at this point in time from professors and fellow alumni and my colleagues. And so that’s my Syracuse University story.
John Boccacino:
What’s the biggest impact, the way that your time on the Hill, How did that impact your profession?
Rachel Johnson:
I was on the Hill, but I wanted to get off the Hill all the time. I always wanted to be to know about the surrounding community and be community-based. I was always at awe with of the integration and the collaboration that Syracuse University would offer, particularly through the Falk School, to be able to be integrated in the surrounding Syracuse community. And that has shaped my profession. When I graduated, I had already had ties and connections and a drive and a passion to serve the surrounding community from the Hill. And I think that entryway and having that door left open for me, from the Syracuse University landscape, really helped to further what my passions were. I’ve always been for the people. And so having access to the people and being introduced to the people, that for me has solidified my track consistently. So then transitioning into working in that community and then living in that community has been, what a very interesting journey.
John Boccacino:
And when someone finds out that you happen to be a Syracuse University alumna, what does it mean to you? What do you tell them about how those were formative years that really shaped and influenced you?
Rachel Johnson:
That’s a good question. Particularly for young folks that see me in certain positions or in certain spaces and feeling like it’s not accessible to them. I too did not feel like this was accessible, right? I too did not feel like I could attend a university such as Syracuse and then go on and obtain degrees and then go on. And even now, I’m still like, “An author? What does that mean? A professor? What does that mean?” There’s a level of dissonance. And being able to relate to those that don’t feel like things are accessible.
And then being able to create a pathway and let them know that things are truly accessible and that there are resources and there are people that as long as they believe in you and they believe in the vision, you can get there and you can obtain it. I think that’s a big one, is just making sure that people understand that when we say “I am Orange,” that means I too, as a black woman, as somebody that would not be able to traditionally attend this school, I am Orange as well and that there is different shades of Orange and different ways to become Orange. But at the end of the day, I am Orange. And that is really important to me.
John Boccacino:
And we are so thrilled that you are Orange. We are so thrilled that you found career success as the founder of Half Hood Half Holistic. Again, that website is HalfHoodHalfHolistic.com. Successful author of the Self-Love Workbook for Black Women and just an all around fascinating person. Rachel Johnson, it’s been my pleasure having you on the podcast. We wish you nothing but the best of luck with all your career ventures and thank you for taking the time today.
Rachel Johnson: Thank you so much.
John Boccacino:
Thanks for checking out the latest installment of the ‘Cuse Conversations Podcast. My name is John Boccacino, signing off for the ‘Cuse Conversations Podcast.
~ An SU News story by John Boccacino originally published on Thursday, October 27, 2022
Resilience Writing
As a master’s student years ago, Lenny Grant did community outreach for his college’s writing center, working with a group of widows aged 75 to 96 as they wrote about their life experiences. Little did he know that he’d take lessons from them, have one of the most rewarding experiences of his career and gain inspiration for future research.
Those workshops provided Grant, now an assistant professor in the College of Arts and Sciences in the Department of Writing Studies, Rhetoric and Composition, with a realization of how the writing process can improve mental and physical health.
“Amazing things happened,” Grant says. “The women started coming to the sessions every week reporting better health outcomes. They felt better, had greater mental clarity and experienced better connectivity to their families and to each other. Witnessing their transformation flabbergasted me.”
CUSE Grant Expansion
More recently Grant hosted a series of virtual writing workshops for Syracuse-area social workers to test if expressive writing—writing to convey a person’s thoughts and feelings about difficult events and issues—could help social workers boost their own mental and physical resilience.
The pilot Resilience Writing Project showed promise, so he applied for and received funds to expand the program online. He and his research team started work this summer using a Collaboration for Unprecedented Success and Excellence (CUSE) grant for $22,000.
Learning whether the writing style provides a useful intervention to help social workers and mental health professionals build emotional and physical resilience is important, Grant says. Those professionals can experience “compassion fatigue”—secondary traumatic psychological stress—as a residual impact of their work helping others overcome trauma.
“Every day, social workers help people who are having the worst days of their lives. They provide invaluable support to our community members in hospitals, human services agencies, private practice and other settings. As they do their jobs, they are exposed to the traumas and catastrophic experiences of those they help. While busy caring for others, social workers sometimes don’t have the time to care for themselves or there’s limited infrastructure in place to help them do that,” he says.
Increased Need
The last few years of high stress, including the COVID-19 pandemic, has created a crisis in the mental health care professions and threatens to undermine an already overwhelmed mental health infrastructure, Grant says.
Co-investigator Tracey Marchese, professor of practice in the School of Social Work in Falk College and an expert in trauma practice and education as well as a 30-year mental health practitioner, agrees. “This is an unprecedented time,” Marchese says. “What we’ve seen, particularly since COVID, is that in the process of trying to help their clients, clinical mental health practitioners are at the same time experiencing the same concerns and anxieties as their clients.”
Recruiting Participants
Through the summer, work was done to develop scripts, videotape instructions, create a website and put data collection and evaluation tools in place. Participants are now being recruited. The team wants to enroll 100 licensed or provisionally licensed professionals working in mental health counseling, psychology, marriage and family therapy, and social workers. The pool includes Syracuse University partner agencies and professionals from an area encompassing the North Country, to Rochester, to Utica, to Northeast Pennsylvania—areas all experiencing heightened needs for mental health workers.
Six Short Exercises
To engage in the program, participants go to the website, watch a short video, view a sample piece of writing and then are prompted to complete the exercise. The series of six exercises use expressive writing techniques that encourage deep engagement with the traumatic issue and related emotions. Writers are asked to create a narrative of a traumatic experience, reframe the narrative in the third person, develop an imaginary dialogue, write a letter of gratitude, devise a mindfulness poem and outline a future retrospective.
The program is self-paced and accessible online anytime. Modules are condensed to take no more than 20 minutes each. The idea is that harried mental health workers will be more willing to engage with expressive writing if sessions are offered in short form on a virtual platform that they can access at their convenience.
Also a co-investigator on the project is Xiafei Wang, assistant professor in the Falk College’s School of Social Work, a mixed-methods researcher and educator in program evaluation whose expertise is evaluation design and data analysis with a specialty in trauma and behavioral health.
Wang will assess the written material and its linguistics using qualitative content analyses and quantitative data analysis based on repeated-measure design. The combination of methods will show the usefulness of the results of the study in regard to the healing power of writing, Wang says. The team may also do some in-person interviews to gain detail about the participant experience.
Why Does It Help?
What is it about the expressive writing form that seems to help people? “We have theories about the mechanisms behind the health benefits of expressive writing, but we are still seeking concrete answers,” Grant says. He has a hypothesis, though: People who experience traumas or catastrophic events can feel those things don’t make sense because they become overwhelmed emotionally and physically.
Meanwhile, the writing process is slow and linear, requiring a person to slow down, look in their mind’s eye and create a narrative about the experience, he says. “I think it’s in that process that the healing happens. Traumatic events often leave us with a whirlwind of unresolved emotions, images and thoughts. The expressive writing process helps us to examine those feelings and memories closely. Through writing, we can take something that didn’t make sense before and make meaning of it.”
Marchese says that if preliminary research shows the program is helpful it could be broadened to all mental health professionals in all disciplines and put into use industrywide. “If this program starts mental health practitioners in positive self-care practices, and we find ways to get people really invested in their own mental health and building their resilience so they can be better for the people they serve, that would be fantastic,” she says.
Just as that long-ago widows writing workshop produced positive results, Grant is hopeful the virtual resilience platform will be a gift to the mental health care community who are necessarily in high demand. “That demand has consequences mental health professionals may not be processing because while they are processing other people’s issues,” Grant says. “They sometimes don’t get the chance to take care of themselves. This is an invitation to do that and it’s something they can do from the comfort of their office in their own time and at their own pace.”
~ A SU News story by Diane Stirling originally published on Tuesday, October 4, 2022.
Helping the Homeless
Millions of others are on the edge: 37.2 million Americans live below the poverty level, 44 million are at the risk of suffering from hunger, and 1 in 6 children live in poverty.
These disturbing facts about homelessness and poverty are provided by In My Father’s Kitchen, an organization that serves the homeless in Syracuse. And they’re worth noting as November is national Homelessness Awareness Month and national Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week runs from Nov. 12-20.
To recognize this widespread problem and in recognition of Homelessness Awareness Month, the annual Fall Donation Drive hosted by Social Workers United will collect items for In My Father’s Kitchen through the end of the Fall 2022 semester. Social Workers United (SWU) is comprised of undergraduate (BSSW) and graduate (M.S.W) students from the School of Social Work at Falk College.
“The Fall 2022 Social Workers United Donation Drive is especially exciting as we have involvement of both in-person and online students who are helping in various ways,” says M.S.W. student and SWU president Rob Ryan G ’23. “Social Workers United is unique because in keeping with social work values, including self-determination, the full membership has a voice and a vote about the donation drive. In My Father’s Kitchen was chosen as this semester’s recipient because 100 percent of donations will stay local and assist people in our own community.”
Donations can be made securely through SWU’s Amazon wish list. The items were chosen specifically to meet the needs of individuals who access services through In My Father’s Kitchen and will support them through the cold winter months ahead.
“In My Father’s Kitchen assists chronically homeless individuals who live on the streets of Syracuse and have a disability that prevents them from adequately caring for themselves,” says Jennifer Genovese, an assistant teaching professor and the M.S.W. program director. “The disabilities of these individuals include substance abuse, mental illness, chronic illness and/or physical disabilities that make them vulnerable to crime, disease, hunger, and hopelessness.”
According to the In My Father’s Kitchen website, the organization’s mission is to “feed people spirit, soul and body; using food distribution and supplying material necessities to break down barriers, build relationships, and bring hope to those who feel invisible.” Founded by Executive Director John Tumino and his wife, Leigh-Ann Tumino, In My Father’s Kitchen strives to honor those they serve by “offering them a hand up not a handout” and promoting “a culture of dignity and respect.”
With their Fall Donation Drive, the students from Social Workers United are determined to address the issue of chronic homelessness by starting in their own backyard of Syracuse.
“The faculty advisors from the School of Social Work–Nadaya Brantley, Kristin Esposito, and myself–are extremely proud of the dedicated and enthusiastic members of Social Workers United who embody the core values of the social work profession: service; social justice; dignity and worth of the person; integrity; importance of human relationships; and competence,” Genovese says.
If you’re unable to donate items through the Amazon wish list, please contact Jennifer Genovese at jgenoves@syr.edu.
To learn more about social work academic programs, career paths, and experiential learning opportunities, visit the School of Social Work webpage.
Diane Lyden Murphy Concluding Tenure as Dean
A longtime member of the Orange community, Diane Lyden Murphy ’67, G’76, G’78, G’83, dean of the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, has had an impactful, accomplished career at Syracuse University—as a student, faculty member and academic leader. Today, Murphy announced her plans to conclude her tenure as dean at the end of the academic year in 2023. A search for her successor will begin in January 2023.
“Diane has been a force of nature at Syracuse University since she arrived on campus nearly 60 years ago,” says Chancellor Kent Syverud. “She’s an innovator who inspires and engages others in transformational initiatives. Through her work in sexual and relationship violence, gender equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility, Diane has both enhanced the student experience and helped our Orange community become a more welcoming place for students, staff and faculty.”
“In the years I’ve been at Syracuse University, I’ve been incredibly impressed with Diane’s work,” says Vice Chancellor, Provost and Chief Academic Officer Gretchen Ritter. “As a fierce advocate for her college and some of the University’s most important initiatives, she has an extraordinary ability to communicate with and engage others in what is truly important to the University experience. She is highly respected and for good reason because she is a person of high integrity.”
Murphy says serving her alma mater all these years, especially in her most recent role as Falk College dean, has been the honor of a lifetime.
“It has been an extraordinary privilege to be able to integrate my life’s work and focus as an activist scholar, social worker and social policy faculty with a career that articulates this effort in many ways over the years,” Murphy says. “I have built a cherished network of friends and colleagues that focus on matters of social justice and progressive peace work for both the community and the university, and together we have moved these communities forward.”
Appointed as dean of the College of Human Services and Health Professions in 2005, Murphy expanded that college with the Department of Sport Management to create the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics in 2011. Murphy led a successful effort to integrate these disparate but complimentary curricula into one college, which moved into the White Hall-McNaughton Hall complex in 2015, physically bringing their departments together for the first time.
In addition to forging and shaping the Falk College, Murphy established a college Research Center and launched new undergraduate majors and minors, and several graduate programs. Her commitment to global education has resulted in study abroad opportunities throughout the Falk College. Her dedication to accessibility and global outreach led to groundbreaking new online programs, including online graduate programs in social work and marriage and family therapy. She helped create the food studies and sport management majors; launched the nation’s first bachelor’s degree in sport analytics; and integrated the Department of Exercise Science into the college. Murphy also led the creation of Falk’s Department of Public Health, and spearheaded collaborations with other colleges, including the School of Education, the College of Law and the Martin J. Whitman School of Management.
Mission-driven and passionate about issues of equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility, Murphy believes that progress results from collective wisdom and collective action.
“We’ve learned a lot from the Haudenosaunee women, the Native women who have always led and been a very important voice, but their men lead with them,” says Murphy. “It’s about empowering people, getting people to the table, because collective voices make the best decisions. You need to have people who have different life experiences because they will think about things you wouldn’t have thought about.”
Murphy applied this passion to several critical leadership roles on campus. In August of 2021, she was one of a three-person interim leadership team appointed by Chancellor Syverud to advance the University’s diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA) priorities and strategic planning efforts. Murphy also serves as co-chair of the Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence, a role she’s held since 2017. And, during former Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw’s tenure, she served as a consultant to him on women’s issues while director of women’s studies. In that role she co-founded the University Senate Committee on Women’s Issues while also co-writing the University’s first Sexual Harassment Policy, Domestic Partnership Policies, Adoption Policies and Gender Equity Studies with the goal of elevating Syracuse’s commitment to a family friendly environment.
Murphy is a four-time Orange alumna. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology, a master of social work degree, a master’s degree in social science and a Ph.D. in interdisciplinary social science, all from Syracuse University. She became a member of the University’s social work faculty in 1978 and also served as director of the women’s studies program in the College of Arts and Sciences from 1989-2005, where it became a department with tenured faculty scholars and built the first B.A. and certificate in women’s studies at Syracuse University. She has also served as an elected faculty member of the Syracuse University Senate since 1980.
Committed to Student Success
As a non-traditional, first-generation undergraduate student at Syracuse University, Chandice Haste-Jackson excelled academically but always felt there was something missing in her pursuit of knowledge.
That missing piece? Connecting with others.
“Ultimately, I discovered that in connecting with others, I could expand my knowledge and understanding beyond anything I learned from textbooks,” Haste-Jackson says. “That set me on a career journey oriented toward human connection, holistic development, and service, whether that be in fields of teaching, counseling, leadership, or administration.”
This past summer, Haste-Jackson’s lifelong journey of connecting with others continued with her appointment as Associate Dean of the Office of Student Services in Falk College. An associate teaching professor in Falk’s Department of Human Development and Family Science (HDFS), Haste-Jackson previously held several prominent HDFS positions and was chair of the Dean’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. In 2021-22, Haste-Jackson served as Syracuse University’s interim director of the First-Year Seminar course.
Before joining Syracuse University, Haste-Jackson was drawn to work that supported vulnerable populations. It was her job, she says, to help those populations expand their understanding, move from deficit toward sufficiency, and identify what wholeness, health, and stability meant to them and/or their families.
“Was this difficult work at times? Yes!” Haste-Jackson says. “But what I gained from these experiences is that our humanity connects us all, even those who are not like ourselves. We all want similar things–health, happiness, longevity, stability–and that makes us more interconnected than we think we are.”
To introduce Haste-Jackson to Falk students, we asked her to discuss her previous experience with students, the services offered by the Office of Student services, and questions that students might ask. Here’s that conversation:
What attracted you to your new job and why is it important that you’re helping Falk College students succeed?
After 20 years of working in nonprofit organizations and schools, rising through the ranks of direct service to executive leadership and administration, I spent a good deal of time teaching and training frontline employees and college student interns. In working with college student interns, I developed a desire to teach, mentor, and prepare the next generation of human service workers, a field that is very broad but one that involves human connection, holistic development, and service–tenets I live my life by!
Given the climate in which we live in today, college students are dealing with issues that may impact their ability to successfully engage in academic pursuits. The COVID-19 pandemic, mass racial violence, wars, and significant personal losses have impacted academic performance and emotional well-being. Helping students to navigate these challenges during their time with us in Falk College is what I endeavor to do, and I am committed to leading and supporting the professional staff in our office who have made that same commitment to student success.
I’m a first-year or transfer student who isn’t familiar with the Office of Student Services. What are the services you provide?
In your first year at Syracuse University, our office will provide academic counseling and advising around other areas in your life that you identify as being important to your growth as a student in Falk College. Additionally, our office supports career exploration and professional skill development, and offers opportunities for learning through career immersion experiences.
Every first-year and transfer student has an assigned academic counselor, and the Office of Student Services will be one of the first places that you connect with to learn more about your major and all the resources available at Syracuse University.
I’m a student struggling with my classes and I’m not sure if I’ve chosen the right major. How can you help?
This is common for students who are adjusting to the intensity of college-level work. We can help you identify the source/cause of the struggle with your classes and then locate campus resources that you might consider accessing for help.
Sometimes, making a change in how you study, how much time you give to studying, or even where you study is all that may be needed to alleviate the struggle. Sometimes, motivation is at the root of the struggle and subsequently causes you to consider if the major is right or not. We’ll help you to explore and develop a pathway to successful academic performance.
I’m a student having a hard time being away from home and I’ve got personal issues that are getting in the way of my sleep, classwork, and social life. Do I go to you or somewhere else?
You most certainly can meet with your academic counselor to discuss these personal issues. Our academic counselors will listen and help you find the resources that are right for you and meet your needs. You do not have to be alone in trying to address emotional, social, or academic well-being.
We also recommend that students contact the Barnes Center at The Arch and/or Hendricks Chapel for support with any personal issues that arise. We are well-connected to these two resources and support student engagement with their services.
Why is it important for students to see you if they have issues rather than trying to work them out on their own? Isn’t that what college is for, learning how to handle stress?
Absolutely! Learning how to handle stress is an expectation of a college student, yet many students are not prepared for the inherent stress that comes with transitioning to college. During the first year of study or even subsequent years, there are a series of social, emotional, and academic adjustments that must occur for you to be successful as a college student. There will be some new stressors, and some of your past ways of handling stress may not be as effective for you now.
Being proactive in seeking help before something becomes an issue is also something that college students are expected to learn early in their college career. We can help you to learn these skills and support you along the way as you employ them.
Help is Here
The Falk College Office of Student Services is in Suite 330 Barclay Hall. You can visit at any time or schedule an appointment by calling 315.443.3144 or emailing falkss@syr.edu. Visit the Office of Student Services webpage for more information and a complete list of services, important announcements, and staff directory.
Dean Murphy Welcomes Falk Students
Dear Falk Students,
Finally, our beautiful campus is packed with energy after the quiet summer months. It’s great to see our returning Falk students—we’re so glad to have you back! Please join me in giving a big Orange WELCOME to the Class of 2026, and to our new transfer and graduate students! Our Falk family just got a whole lot bigger.
As we share in the excitement of a new semester, I want to remind you of some important information that will help you navigate life on campus.
Official Syracuse University Communications
Syracuse University email is the primary communication method at the University. Your professors and University offices will contact you with important information using your Syracuse University email address (ending in “@syr.edu”), not your personal email address. It’s important to read your University email at least once every day so you’re aware of the latest information that’s essential to you.
Public Health Information
Public health remains a critical priority for life on campus. Please review the Fall 2022 Public Health Guidelines. We fully expect all Falk College students to follow University public health guidelines. For public health information and updates, please visit the Stay Safe website, the official source of public health information for Syracuse University. Thank you for doing your part to keep our community safe and healthy.
Student Support Services
Falk College Student Services is an important resource in your support system at Syracuse University. Student Services counselors are here to provide you with academic advising and help you meet your requirements and goals. In addition, they are your resource for private consultation related to student social and emotional concerns. If you have any concerns throughout your academic career, please contact Student Services or visit Suite 330 Barclay Hall in the Falk Complex.
I encourage you to connect with the staff at Falk Career Services, who can help you prepare for life after college through career exploration, internship and job searching, professional networking, and more. They are also located in Suite 330 Barclay Hall, or you can search for opportunities through Handshake, the University’s job search and professional events portal.
In addition, you can connect to spiritual life on campus at Hendricks Chapel, as well as health and counseling services in the Barnes Center at the Arch.
Student Spaces in Falk College
The Student Lounge, located in Falk 216, is available to you anytime the Falk Complex is open. The lounge has a microwave, refrigerator, and vending machines for student use. Across the hall is the Falk Café on 2, open 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Friday starting September 6. Visit the Food Services website for up-to-date operating hours for cafés and dining centers across campus. Just down the hall is Falk 229, the quiet student lounge.
There are several computer labs in the Falk Complex. Falk 113 is a PC lab, and Falk 229 is a quiet study area that has both PCs and Macs available for your use. Both spaces are available to students at any time. Falk 400 and 407 are PC labs that are also used as teaching classrooms. When class is not in session, they are open for student use. You may check their schedule of availability using the 25Live website. You may also use the quick-print stations in Falk 216 and 229 for printing and email. These stations log out automatically after 15 minutes of use.
Ways to Get Involved
The Student Involvement Fair will be held Thursday, September 8, on the Quad from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. There are more than 300 student organizations at Syracuse University. Be sure to explore organizations that might be outside your usual interests, too. Remember, this is a great way to meet new people and discover something new about yourself!
There are many exciting events planned for Fall 2022, including two signature Syracuse University events: Family Weekend October 14-16 and Orange Central, Syracuse University’s annual homecoming and reunion weekend, September 29-October 2. You can discover activities and events on campus by visiting the Syracuse University Calendar.
There are so many ways to connect, express, and grow at Syracuse University, and these are just a few suggestions to get you started. I encourage you to visit the Syracuse University For Students page for more resources and opportunities to make the most of your Syracuse experience.
I wish you the best as you begin (or continue) your Orange story. Best of luck to each of you. We’re excited to see all that you will accomplish this year.
Go Orange!
Diane Lyden Murphy, M.A., M.S.W., Ph.D.
Dean
Falk College
Welcome Class of 2026
Welcome to Syracuse, new Falk College students! The newest Falk students in the Class of 2026 are a talented group from 30 states and 18 global countries. We welcome 386 first-year and 14 transfer students who join new graduate students, 141 in residential programs and 244 online. We’re glad you’re part of the Falk family. Altogether, the Falk College student body is 2,140 strong!
We look forward to meeting with you, your families, and friends at Syracuse Welcome August 25-28, 2022. It will be an exciting time of meeting new classmates and professors, and discovering all that our campus and region have to offer.
Join us for important Falk College welcome events. You can also check out the main Syracuse Welcome website for information on all events surrounding Syracuse Welcome and getting moved in!
Falk College Syracuse Welcome Events:
Building Resilience and Equity
Social workers, teachers, staff and administrators from schools and school districts across Central New York filled the halls of Falk College this past spring for the inaugural Resilience and Equity Conference created by Finger Lakes Community Schools and sponsored by Falk College and Peaceful Schools. Together, conference participants addressed some of the most pressing challenges facing young people, the communities in which they live, and the schools in which they learn.
“This conference is an opportunity for us to think deeply about our role as individuals and as leaders in how to disrupt the structures of oppression, racism and hate that continue to impose themselves on our children and threaten our children’s children,” says Dr. Lura Lunkenheimer, president of Peaceful Schools.
“We do not need to look far to see the injustice, inequality and pain some of our young people are facing,” adds Ryan Heath, assistant professor of social work in Falk College. “We see youth violence and gun violence. We see trauma—from COVID-19, from mass violence, from historical oppression. There are skyrocketing behavioral incidents and mental health needs in schools, which reflects the broader youth mental health crisis.
“Schools are reckoning with racial injustice and working to address implicit bias of school staff and school systems,” Heath adds. “Now, we have the new challenge of social-emotional learning loss following COIVD-19 closures.”
Despite these challenges, there are opportunities to transform school structures and better support young people. According to Finger Lakes Community Schools, “a community school partners with service providers, welcoming them and weaving them into the fabric of the student’s, family’s, and community’s daily lives.” Community schools bring together services such as health care and mental health care to meet the holistic needs of young people and their families—needs that schools alone are unable to address.
“Community Schools, I believe, can be one tool to build resilience in our young people, resilience in our families, resilience in our communities,” Heath says. “But not just resilience. Resilience alone can burden those who are disadvantaged or oppressed. The community school model can also build equity in our schools, our systems, our world. That is why we in Falk College were thrilled to host this conference and to promote the work of community schools. These are the folks doing this work.”
Participants at the Resilience and Equity Conference received training in preventing implicit bias and racism in schools, improving trauma informed practices and trauma sensitive schools, multi-tiered systems of support (how limited resources and interventions are coordinated and delivered in schools), and social-emotional learning.
“This conference was designed to provide participants with time and access to experts, so they can take the strategies back to their schools and make their learning count for the young people around them,” says Jay Roscup, Community Schools Director at Wayne County Consortium. “The planning team hopes participants gain knowledge and tools from this conference to move forward together and help grow a community that can lift all the children and young adults of New York State.”
“The Community Schools Conference was wonderful. All the presenters were engaging and offered incredible expertise in creating and supporting equitable community schools,” says Kristin Moses, a school social worker who works as Coordinator of Student Support Services and Family Engagement in Skaneateles Central School District. She is a Syracuse University alumna of the Falk College School of Social Work and a current Ph.D. student in the University’s School of Education.
“Although we all came from different roles and perspectives, all of the conference participants were offered an opportunity to share our viewpoints and be heard,” Moses adds. “We all had one thing in common, no matter who we were or where we were from, we were there to help do what is best for students and make schools more inclusive, inviting and part of the fabric of our communities.”
The conference included four plenary speakers. In addition to plenary lectures, participants were organized into breakout sessions, giving them time for individualized coaching with each speaker on topics presented. Plenary speakers included:
Rev. Dr. Bryant T. Marks Sr. is Founder and Chief Equity Officer of the National Training Institute on Race and Equity and professor of psychology at Morehouse College. He served on former President Barack Obama’s Board of Advisors with the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for African Americans and as senior advisor with the White House Initiative on Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Joel M. Ristuccia, a certified school psychologist, works with schools and school districts to employ whole school, classroom and individual strategies that support students at risk for failure due to social/emotional disabilities. He served as a consultant on the impact of trauma on student learning to the Trauma and Learning Policy Initiative (TLPI) and is currently the Director of Training at TLPI.
Ali Hearn is a speaker, trainer and coach who works with educators across the country on improving social/emotional skills, installing Restorative Practices within school systems, and reinforcing Multi-Tiered System of Supports frameworks to better support student, staff, and family needs. Ali previously worked with Midwest Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports Network.
Abe Fernandez is Director of the National Center for Community Schools and guides the place-based collective impact initiatives at Children’s Aid in New York City. He was previously a senior advisor to South Bronx Rising Together, a cradle-to-career collective impact initiative, of which he was a founding co-director, and led the Empire State Poverty Reduction Initiative statewide effort for the Bronx.
Falk College Welcomes New Faculty and Staff
Syracuse University’s Falk College is pleased to welcome 14 new staff members who have joined Falk College in the past academic year: Peter Ashworth, Social Work Internship Placement Coordinator; Rebecca Berard, Marriage and Family Therapy Internship Placement Coordinator; Jennifer Coughlin, Social Work Program Manager; Kim Fudge, Admissions Operations Coordinator; RoQueHarmon, Exercise Science Internship Placement Coordinator; Chandice Haste-Jackson, Associate Dean of Student Services; Kara Hughes, Social Work Administrative Assistant; Timothy Lamey, Exercise Science Internship Placement Coordinator; Matt Michael, Communications Manager; Kim Mura, Human Development and Family Science Office Coordinator; Matthew Murphy, Nutrition and Food Studies Procurement Specialist; Beth Perez, Sport Management Internship Placement Coordinator; Ian Richardson, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions, and; Tyler Sliker, Marriage and Family Therapy Clinic Director.
In addition, Falk College is pleased to announce 12 new faculty appointments:
- Exercise Science – Kylie Harmon, Kristen Konkol;
- Human Development and Family Science – Ashleigh Jones;
- Marriage and Family Therapy – Tristan Martin, Tracey Reichert Schimpff;
- Nutrition and Food Studies – Naomi Shanguhyia;
- School of Social Work – Nadaya Brantley, Ting Guan, Joseph Smith, Aviva Vincent;
- Sport Management – Lindsey Darvin, Jason Maddox, Adrian Simion
Kylie Harmon
Assistant Professor, Exercise Science
Kylie Harmon joins the Department of Exercise Science as an assistant professor. Her position is part of the Aging, Behavioral Health, and Neuroscience research cluster.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, Harmon was a graduate research assistant at the University of Central Florida (UCF) within the School of Kinesiology and Physical Therapy. There, she taught undergraduate kinesiology classes in exercise science, assessment techniques, and health and wellness. While at UCF, she also served as the research coordinator of the Neuromuscular Plasticity Laboratory within the Institute of Exercise Physiology and Rehabilitation Science. During her M.S. studies, she was the Human Performance Laboratory director within the Department of Kinesiology at California State University, Fullerton.
Harmon’s research focuses on understanding the neuromuscular adaptations that occur in response to aging, immobilization/disuse, fatigue, and strength training, with an emphasis on both changes in motor unit behavior and alterations in the corticospinal pathway. She is particularly interested in how to best preserve muscular strength during periods when resistance training is not feasible, such as during illness, injury, or immobilization.
During her doctoral studies, Harmon was awarded a Richard Tucker Gerontology Applied Research Grant from the University of Central Florida Learning Institute for Elders (LIFE) Group to support her research in older adults. To support her dissertation project, Harmon was awarded the University of Central Florida Graduate Dean’s Completion Fellowship.
Harmon was named recipient of the University of Central Florida Division of Kinesiology Doctoral Scholar Award and Graduate Writing Award supported by the American Kinesiology Association. She is an active member of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA) and was awarded both the NSCA Foundation’s Women’s Scholarship and Challenge Scholarship.
Harmon earned a Ph.D. in education, exercise physiology track, from the University of Central Florida in 2022, preceded by a M.S. in kinesiology from California State University, Fullerton, in 2016, and a B.A. in Russian studies from Binghamton University in 2013. She is a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and Conditioning Association.
Kristen Konkol
Associate Teaching Professor, Exercise Science
Kristin Konkol is an Associate Teaching Professor in the Department of Exercise Science. She teaches courses such as structural kinesiology for performance enhancement and injury prevention, structural kinesiology, scientific principles of conditioning, and concepts of fitness. She also runs the internship and experience credits for the department.
She joined Falk College as an Assistant Teaching Professor in the Department of Exercise Science in Fall 2020. Prior to joining Falk College in 2020, the Department of Exercise Science was positioned within Syracuse University’s School of Education, where Konkol has served as Assistant Professor since 2018, and formerly as part-time faculty. Previously, Konkol was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Performance, Exercise Science/ Physiology at the Minnesota State University, Mankato, where she taught courses such as individualized exercise, aerobic conditioning, and concepts of fitness, among others. She also held an adjunct faculty position there, as well as coaching positions at the Gustavus Adolphus College.
At the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal in South Africa, Konkol held several titles, including lecturer, lab instructor, manager in the Human Performance Laboratory, and performance specialist for professional athletes. Konkol’s research interests include sport specific training; speed, agility, and quickness training; athletic performance testing; strength and conditioning; exercise immunology; and global perspectives in human performance. Konkol’s work is published in the Cardiovascular Journal of Africa, Sport Sciences for Health, Children, Sports and Exercise Medicine Open Journal, and International Journal of Exercise Science.
Konkol currently serves at Syracuse University as the I-Move Program Coordinator and Dance Minor Coordinator. From 2004 to 2006, she served as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer in Guyana and South America. Konlol is a Certified Performance Enhancement Specialist through the National Academy of Sports Medicine. Konkol earned her Ph.D. in Sports Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa in 2013.
She earned an M.A. in Kinesiology with an Exercise Physiology emphasis and a graduate minor in Complementary and Alternative Therapy and Healing Practices. She earned her B.S. in Exercise Science with a Cardiac Rehabilitation emphasis from the University of Toledo, where she was a Division I collegiate basketball athlete.
Ashleigh Jones
Assistant Teaching Professor, Human Development and Family Science
Ashleigh Jones joins the Department of Human Development and Family Science as an assistant teaching professor. She teaches classes in human sexuality and intimate relationships.
Jones has over 10 years of teaching experience and has taught courses across various subjects spanning multiple disciplines at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. As an educator, Ashleigh takes immense pride in creating an informative and engaging classroom environment in which students are encouraged to control their own learning experience. Dr. Jones leverages her extensive teaching experience with novel teaching pedagogies to create an immersive and collaborative teaching environment to help future scholars and practitioners apply theory to practice. Recent courses she has taught include families in crisis, cross-cultural research, adolescents and their families, mental health, and human sexuality.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, Jones was an instructor at Texas Tech University in 2020 in the Departments of Human Development and Family Sciences and Community, Family, and Addiction Sciences. Prior to Texas Tech, while completing her graduate degrees, she served as an instructor at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, teaching courses for the Department of Community Health from 2010-2017.
In addition, Jones worked as an academic coach with Disabilities Resource Education Services at the University of Illinois from 2012-2017. In this role, she worked directly with students and conducted needs assessments; offered career counseling; and created, implemented, and facilitated several skill-based workshops and trainings for students, staff, and faculty across the university campus.
Jones earned a Ph.D. in 2019, an M.S. in 2011, and a B.S. (with honors) in 2008, all from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.
Tristan Martin
Assistant Teaching Professor, Marriage and Family Therapy
Tristan Martin joins the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy as an assistant teaching professor. He teaches classes in family therapy, including sexual issues for the helping professional.
Prior to Fall 2022, Martin was an adjunct instructor both in Marriage and Family Therapy and Human Development and Family Science at Syracuse University.
Martin’s research focuses on transgender sexuality with the intersections of relational and erotic diversity. He has presented at multiple national conferences and contributed to publications in the field of family therapy and transgender issues, including the “Handbook of LGBTQ-Affirmative Couple and Family Therapy” and “Sexual and Relationship Therapy.”
Martin was a recipient of the Summer Dissertation Fellowship at Syracuse University in 2019 for his dissertation “Transgender Congruence and Sexual Satisfaction in Trans Masculine Adults: The Role of Affirmative Sexual Partners.”
Martin is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and AASECT-certified Sex Therapist. His clinical work focuses on providing support for the LGBTQ community, with specialization in supporting gender transition for youth and adults.
Martin earned a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy from Syracuse University in 2020, a Certificate of Advanced Study in Sex Therapy from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 2020, a master’s degree in family therapy from Mercer University in 2016, and a B.A. (with honors) in 2014 from Huntingdon College.
Tracey Reichert Schimpff
Associate Teaching Professor, Marriage and Family Therapy
Tracey Reichert Schimpff is an associate teaching professor in the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy. She teaches supervision in marriage and family therapy for doctoral students and practicum courses for the master’s program.
Reichert Schimpff has been the director of clinical services for Marriage and Family Therapy since 2013 and served as the clinic supervisor from 2008 to 2013. Prior to working at Syracuse University, Reichert Schimpff was the director of family services at The Salvation Army in Syracuse. She held several clinical and administrative roles in the non-profit organization from 1998 to 2008.
Reichert Schimpff’s focus has been on child welfare and the treatment of trauma. Her research explored therapists’ experiences of trauma and the role of compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction. She is also interested in developing community collaborations to increase access to mental health care.
She has collaborated on scholarly articles and grants in the areas of community violence, trauma, and maternal mental health.
Reichert Schimpff has served as chair of the Supervisor Committee, Clinic Committee, Handbook Committee and Clinical Readiness Committee in the Department of Marriage and Family Therapy. She also provides supervision mentorship to supervisor candidates in the Central New York area.
Reichert Schimpff earned a Ph.D. from Syracuse University in 2019 and an M.A. from SU in 1996. She received a B.S. from LeMoyne College in 1993. Reichert Schimpff is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, Clinical Fellow of AAMFT, and an Approved Supervisor.
Naomi Shanguhyia
Associate Teaching Professor, Nutrition and Food Studies
Naomi Shanguhyia joins Nutrition and Food Studies as an associate teaching professor. She teaches classes in contemporary food issues, global food politics, and oversees the undergraduate and graduate practicums.
Prior to joining Falk College, Shanguhyia was the associate director of the Renée Crown University Honors Program, where from 2019 to 2022 she oversaw the program’s curriculum and day-to-day operations and taught a course on food security in Africa. She was also a part-time instructor in the Geography and the Environment Department in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, where she taught a class on geographies of hunger, and a faculty affiliate in the international relations program. From 2012 to 2014, Shanguhyia was a lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental Sustainability at SUNY Oneonta, where she taught courses in introductory geography, food, society and environment, and gender geography. In 2014, Shanguhyia joined the College of Arts and Sciences at Syracuse University as a post-doctoral faculty fellow and taught writing-intensive seminars focusing on the themes of food, society, gender, and environment.
Shanguhyia’s research focuses on the global and local processes that intersect to shape food, nutrition, and health outcomes among communities in Africa south of the Sahara. Her dissertation research, which was funded by an NSF DDRI grant, examined the impact of environmental and economic change on food and livelihood security among rural communities in western Kenya. Her previous work, which is published in Human Geography: A Radical Journal, analyzed the politics of chronic hunger in arid and semi-arid areas in northern Kenya. She has presented her work at the annual conferences of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) and the Association for the Study of Food & Society (ASFS), the Cornell University International Studies Summer Institute Workshop, and other forums.
Shanguhyia holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in geography from West Virginia University and a B.Ed. and M.Ed. from Kenyatta University, Kenya.
Nadaya Brantley
Assistant Teaching Professor, Social Work
Nadaya Brantley joined the School of Social Work as an assistant teaching professor in Spring 2022. She teaches courses in introductory social work and social welfare policy and serves as the baccalaureate of social work program director.
She joined Syracuse University as a member of the field office in January 2011 as an internship placement coordinator and previously served as the assistant director of BSSW field education in Falk College, School of Social Work Field Education Office. She is a New York State Licensed Master Social Worker. Her practice areas include work with adolescents, developmental disabilities, mental health, and incarcerated populations.
As a systems thinker, she believes that, in the words of Bell Hooks, “there must exist a paradigm, a practical model for social change that includes an understanding of ways to transform consciousness that are linked to efforts to transform structures.” Brantley’s research interests include exploring intersectional identities and educational equity in higher education through a critical race theory lens.
Brantley serves on several department committees and as an advisor for several student organizations, including SU-NAACP, SU-Special Olympics of New York, Social Worker’s United, and the Juvenile Urban Mentoring Program (J.U.M.P. Nation).
She received a bachelor’s degree in social work and a master’s of social work (M.S.W.) degree from Syracuse University. She is currently a doctoral student in the Cultural Foundations of Education in the Syracuse University School of Education.
Ting Guan
Assistant Professor, Social Work
Ting Guan joins the School of Social Work as an assistant professor. She will teach courses on foundations of social work research.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, Guan was a Ph.D. candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work, where she also served as a research assistant, working with faculty in the School of Social Work, School of Nursing, and Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center on federally funded work related to integrated health care and cancer care. Guan has over eight years of clinical experience in hospital settings as a medical social worker in China.
Guan’s research focuses on developing and evaluating family-based psychosocial interventions to improve cancer patient and caregiver quality of life through collaborative and interdisciplinary social work practice in healthcare settings. She has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles in academic journals, including Psycho-Oncology, Supportive Care in Cancer, Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, Social Work in Health Care, and Journal of the Society for Social Work and Research.
Guan’s dissertation research was supported by a Royster Dissertation Completion Fellowship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2021.
Her work has been recognized and funded by the Association of Oncology Social Work, Society for Social Work and Research, and Association of American Medical Colleges. In 2015, Guan was awarded China’s Most Dedicated Social Worker Award, a prestigious national award for social work practitioners.
Guan earned a Ph.D. in social work in 2022 from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work, a master’s degree in social welfare in 2009 from Peking University, and a bachelor’s degree in social work in 2006 from China Youth University for Political Studies.
Joseph Smith
Associate Teaching Professor, School of Social Work
Joseph Smith joined the School of Social Work as an associate teaching professor in Spring 2022 and serves as the college online MSW program liaison. He teaches classes in applied research in social work, psychopathology, and alcohol and other drugs in social work practice.
Prior to his full-time faculty appointment at Syracuse University, Smith served as an adjunct faculty member in both the BSSW and MSW programs since 2010. He was heavily involved in online curriculum development and teaching in various content areas. Additionally, Smith comes to this position following 25 years of administrative and teaching experience as Department Chair of Chemical Dependency Counseling and Human Services at SUNY Tompkins Cortland Community College.
Smith has practiced as a licensed clinical social worker and Master CASAC in a wide range of social work settings, including adult psychiatric inpatient, substance abuse outpatient and residential, and children’s psychiatric outpatient programs. Smith has interests in trauma-informed and evidence-based strategies, psychodynamic interventions, and culturally responsive practice.
His research interests focus on the areas of mental health and student success, substance use on college campuses, and academic achievement and job placement with underrepresented and minority college students. Smith’s work has been supported by a Perkins Grant from Assertive Community Intervention and Guided Pathways aimed at providing intrusive and structured supports for undergraduate students experiencing academic difficulties; a New York State OASAS College Environmental Prevention Grant aimed at preventing/reducing underage alcohol and drug use on college campuses; and an ALANA Scholarship Grant from the Park Foundation aimed at increasing educational opportunities and job placement for underrepresented and minority students.
Smith has previously served as an MSW Research/Thesis Advisor at Smith College School for Social Work in Northampton, Massachusetts. He also consults and work with NYS OASAS as a statewide trainer in the areas of ethics, cultural competency, and clinical supervision.
Smith earned a Ph.D. in social work from Smith College School for Social Work in 2006, a master’s of social work (M.S.W.) degree from Syracuse University, and a B.S. in psychology from Utica College.
Aviva Vincent
Assistant Teaching Professor, School of Social Work
Aviva Vincent joins the School of Social Work as an assistant teaching professor. She teaches classes in the online master of social work (M.S.W.) degree program.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, Vincent was the program director at Fieldstone Farm Therapeutic Riding Center, a premiere accredited PATH Intl. facility in Ohio. She was also an adjunct at the University of Connecticut and Case Western Reserve University. She is an instructor of animal-assisted interventions at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in its Veterinary Social Work Certificate Program and has served as the program’s community engagement coordinator. Vincent is co-owner of the only Veterinary Social Work private practice in Northeast Ohio, Healing Paws LLC.
Vincent’s research focuses on the bi-directional physiological impact of human-animal interaction. She has published over 15 peer-reviewed publications, of which she is the first author of nine. She is also a contributor to The Comprehensive Guide to Interdisciplinary Veterinary Social Work; Integrating Horses into Healing; The Handbook on Human Animal Interactions, Interventions, and Anthrozoology; and Career Paths in Human-Animal Interaction for Social and Behavioral Scientists.
Vincent recently concluded a study as a co-investigator, Reining in Anxiety, which tested a 10-week manualized CBT-based curricula in adaptive riding sessions. Vincent has also completed research exploring the impact of equine assisted services toward the promotion of mindfulness for veterans. Currently, she is leading a local pilot of the Man O’War Project, a curriculum developed in partnership with Columbia University and PATH Intl. Subsequent research has been supported by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Salivary Bioscience Research (Spit Camp, 2017). Later in 2017, Vincent was a recipient of an inaugural fellowship to the Animals and Society Institute for pre-doctoral candidates.
Vincent was awarded a Doctoral Program Research Fellowship from 2015-19 from the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences at Case Western Reserve University. During her tenure, she received the Phi Beta Kappa Research Award (2018), Dr. Dorothy Pijan Student Leadership Award (2018), and Verhosek Fund Award (2016). Prior to her doctoral career, Vincent received the Next Generation Leadership Award (30 under 30) in 2014 from the National Afterschool Association. Vincent is president of the International Association of Veterinary Social Work, board of trustee member for PATH Intl., and an advisory member for the Center for Human Animal Interaction Research and Education at The Ohio State University.
Vincent earned a Ph.D. in 2019 from Case Western Reserve University in social welfare with a concentration in veterinary social work, including a Veterinary Social Work Certificate from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, in 2017. Vincent is a Licensed Social Worker in the state of Ohio and has completed specialized training as a Certified Therapeutic Riding instructor (2016), Equine Specialist in Mental Health and Learning (2019), and Equine Services for Heroes (2018). She has also completed Green Dot Bystander Training (2018), Sustained Dialogue (2018), LGBTQ+ Safe Zone Training (2015), and the Institute For Social Change and Harwood Institute (2012). She earned a master of social work degree in community organizing in 2011, and a B.A. from University of Massachusetts at Amherst in social thought and political economy in 2007. In her undergraduate studies she also completed a semester abroad at the University of Limerick.
Lindsey Darvin
Assistant Professor, Sport Management
Lindsey Darvin joins the Department of Sport Management as an assistant professor. She will teach classes in research methods and race, gender, and society in sport.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, Darvin was an assistant professor from 2018-22 at the State University of New York College at Cortland, where she taught sport ethics, athlete development, and administration of sport.
Darvin’s research centers around the themes of sport industry and esport industry gender equity, with a particular focus on seeking to combat the underrepresentation of women leaders and women and girl participants at the intercollegiate and professional levels of sport and esport competition. She has published in refereed journals across a variety of academic segments in the areas of management, sociology, vocational behavior, organizational behavior, communications, and sustainability science. Her research has been featured across a variety of media platforms, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, New York Daily News, Inside Higher Education, and SB Nation. Darvin was co-editor of a special issue in the Journal of Athlete Development and Experience (JADE), released March 2022, that focused on NCAA Division III athlete wellbeing and experience. Recently, Darvin served as an author of the Women’s Sport Foundation 2022 collaborative report, “50 Years of Title IX: We’re Not Done Yet.”
Subsequent research has been supported by SUNY Faculty Research Program awards in 2019, 2020, and 2021.
Professor Darvin serves on the editorial board of several peer-referred journals, including the Sport Management Education Journal (SMEJ), the Journal of Athlete Development and Experience (JADE), and the Journal of Electronic Gaming and Esports (JEGE). Darvin is a member of the Dell Technologies Research Collective and the North American Society of Sport Management, and she serves on the steering committee for the PNC Bank Pittsburgh Knights women in esport group. In Spring 2019, Darvin created and advised the first women in sport management group on the campus of SUNY Cortland.
Darvin earned a Ph.D. in sport management in 2018 from the University of Florida, an M.S. in sport management in 2014 from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a B.A. in political science in 2012 from Bryn Mawr College.
Jason Maddox
Assistant Professor, Sport Analytics
Jason Maddox joined the Department of Sport Management as an assistant professor in Spring 2022. He teaches sport data analysis and R for sport analytics.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, Maddox was a student at Baylor University earning his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D., all in statistical science. While a doctoral candidate, he taught introduction to statistics courses and focused research on sport analytics. Maddox also served in the front office of the San Diego Padres as a research and development intern during the summer of 2019.
Maddox’s research focus is on sports data analysis in R, using methods such as regression, machine learning, and Bayesian analysis. His dissertation was focused on creating in-game win probability models for basketball and football.
Maddox earned a Ph.D. in 2022, an M.S. in 2018, and a B.S. in 2016, all in statistical science from Baylor University.
Adrian Simion
Instructor, Sport Analytics
Adrian Simion joins the Department of Sport Management as an instructor. He teaches classes on python programming for web scraping and statistical analysis.
Prior to joining Syracuse University, Simion was a graduate student at Wayne State University from 2017 to 2022, pursuing his Ph.D. in economics with a focus in econometrics. He taught principles of microeconomics and macroeconomics, intermediate macroeconomics, and intermediate econometrics during his time there. He was also a research assistant working on sport management research projects.
Simion’s research is in applied econometrics and sport management. His thesis is on external imbalances and their ability in predicting future exchange rate movements. His sport-related research has been on the impact of college football on the surrounding lodging industry, and the NCAA transfer portal and its impact on the welfare of transferring athletes.
Simion was awarded the Nancy S. Barrett Endowed Prize in Applied Economics in 2021 for his thesis work.
Simion is a Ph.D. candidate in economics at Wayne State University. He earned a M.A. in economics from Wayne State University in 2022 and earned a B.A. in mathematics from Michigan State University in 2016.
A Commitment to Transforming Organizations
Mariama Boney ’96, G’98 wants to bring out the best in everyone. As the president and CEO of Achieve More LLC, a Virginia-based consultancy firm, Boney—a social work alumna of Syracuse University’s Falk College—helps companies and organizations solve leadership challenges, develop goals and focus on building positive cultures and work environments that embrace well-being, diversity, equity, inclusion and access (DEIA). “At Achieve More LLC, we are about helping people be better, achieving more and then ultimately maximizing results—getting the best out of a person, a system, a group of people to then impact the community and the world in a better way,” she says. “I am an advocate and straightforward, so I highlight where there’s an opportunity to shift and grow. I try to do that in as supportive a way as possible, yet also challenge people to think in new and different ways and be willing to do new and different things.”
For Boney, understanding the root cause of issues and creating solutions to address them is an inherent part of her work. Whether engaged in executive coaching, facilitating a DEIA workshop or guiding a company through strategic planning, she draws on her social work background and her leadership skills to advance positive change through tumultuous times. Boney also brings to her work more than two decades of experience as an administrator in higher education and in leading associations and nonprofit organizations. She sees social work—which seeks to create social and economic justice for those who are vulnerable—as essential to improving the human condition and credits her Syracuse University and School of Social Work experiences for shaping her professional philosophy and approach. “I’m constantly looking at systems—whether it’s organizations or the larger societal system—and how they are impacting the individual person, the team, the volunteer group and how that then resonates throughout the organization,” says Boney, a licensed social worker and author of VENT (Volunteer your Emotions and Needs through Talking), a series of three solution-focused guides.
Honoring Her Parents and Syracuse
Boney grew up in Syracuse and likes to say she was raised at the University and has an affinity for all things Orange. Her mom, Maxine ’73, G’76, was a longtime teacher in the Syracuse city schools. Her dad, Robert Boney, who passed away in 1996, served as associate vice president for undergraduate studies for 25 years, pioneering educational opportunity programs for underrepresented students and students from disadvantaged socioeconomic backgrounds. Among them was the Syracuse Challenge—considered to be a first-of-its-kind private university initiative that ensured admission and need-based financial aid for program participants. Robert Boney’s work continues today at the University through the Arthur O. Eve Higher Education Opportunity Program and TRIO Student Support Services. “I’ve talked to so many people who have said, ‘I would not have been at Syracuse University if it wasn’t for your dad,’” she says. “I think a lot about my dad and my mom and what they were able to do within the Syracuse community as well as the University. My dad represents the essence of change leadership, of being a pioneer—and that’s important to me.”
It’s evident that her parents’ commitment to the community and improving lives was influential for Boney, both personally and professionally. She found her calling when her father encouraged her to consider social work as a major after she transferred to Syracuse from Xavier University of Louisiana. She earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work and was active on campus, participating in the Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program and NANBPWC Inc., volunteering as a peer mentor and working as an office assistant and a reader and exam proctor for students with learning disabilities. “Those experiences at Syracuse helped me to continue to want to serve and work with those who are underrepresented,” she says, noting how it reflected on her father’s legacy. “It ended up being a passion as well.”
In honor of her father, she established the Robert L. Boney Endowed Undergraduate Social Work Scholarship at Falk College through the Our Time Has Come scholarship program. Her support for social work students also extends to creating a scholarship in her name as well as contributing to the dean’s fund for field placements. In addition, she’s an advocate and donor for 119 Euclid, a gathering place that celebrates the culture, history and contributions of the Black community at the University and features the Sankofa Staff Office. “I’m so grateful that we have the Our Time Has Come scholarship program because if we are truly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, then we also have to ensure that not only are we growing the education elements for everyone on campus—faculty, staff and students—but we also have to ensure that we are continuing to grow the student body and the faculty body in terms of representation,” says Boney, a member of the Office of Multicultural Advancement Advisory Council and the Hill Society. “You want individuals of different backgrounds, cultures and heritages to be able to come together.”
An Influential Journey to South Africa
As a graduate student, Boney was a Whitney Young Fellow and delayed her graduation so she could join a study tour of South Africa led by the late social work professor Wynetta Devore. During the six-week visit, group members participated in internships, studied the country’s social development and learned firsthand about its culture and history, including the truth and reconciliation process following the end of its apartheid system. “It was an amazing experience,” says Boney, who interned at an orphanage, working with children with disabilities. “It really cemented for me that I wanted to do more work in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion, seeing what South Africa had gone through as a country, especially with the deep-rooted issues related to race and their racial caste system.”
Boney carried her focus on DEIA issues with her—first as an academic services coordinator at the University’s College of Nursing, and then through a series of higher education administrative positions, including serving as director of university information and relations at George Mason University. She also worked as a certified association executive at several organizations, including the American College Personnel Association, NFSA: Association of International Educators, Year Up, and Advocates for Children and Youth. For Boney, each step in her career provided experiences to launch first-time programs, from working with parenting teens and runaway and homeless youth to initiatives for underrepresented students to creating strategic action plans or training.
Faith-Driven Entrepreneur
In 2015, Boney launched Achieve More LLC while working full time. She was familiar with the rigors of entrepreneurship since she had worked for her mom’s business, Creative Reflections, which offered a comprehensive experience related to Black dolls and the African diaspora. She envisioned Achieve More LLC—with a focus on leadership coaching and solution-focused therapy—as part of her retirement plan. But as more requests for advice and guidance arrived, she made a full-time commitment to the business. “To me, it was all about helping people be better because I’m also very faith and spiritual driven,” she says.
Boney sees history as cyclical, and with the racial and ethnic reckoning that’s occurred in the past two years, she says a renewed focus has emerged on DEIA issues. She believes the U.S. can learn and mend from the lessons of South Africa’s truth and reconciliation, emphasizing the importance of facilitating dialogue so that people share their truths and experiences, gain an understanding of one another, and align their goals in working and moving forward together.
While it’s challenging to get some people to understand the value of DEIA in the workplace, Boney says a company’s culture reflects its core values and leadership, including decision making and the hiring and treatment of employees. “It’s all connected, and helping people to see that it’s all connected and that we’re all better as a society and as an organization is important,” she says. “We have to be willing to learn and then grow so that we can have a positive impact. We’re at such a critical time—and if we want to continue to grow in a different way as a country, an organization, a team or as a person, then we have to be willing to do the good work as well as the tough work to get to that different place.”
~ An SU Story by Jay Cox originally published on August 2, 2022.
Page 9 of 31