Social work alum Estreet pushing the profession forward as CEO of NASW
VCU School of Social Work alum Anthony Estreet (M.S.W.’07/SW), Ph.D., brings a higher education-informed perspective to his role as the chief executive officer of the National Association of Social Workers. He was announced as CEO in January and assumed the role in February.
“I think we have to try to figure out how we engage students in services that are meaningful for students,” he says. “And, equally, how do we engage faculty in services that are useful for faculty? For me, the role is really helping students to understand the value of a membership and a professional association and helping them to understand that we’re only as strong as the voice that we have and as our professional association has.
“We are in that space between challenge and opportunity as social workers. If we embrace and fully come together as one profession and break down silos, we can continue to make a lot of change and good trouble in terms of addressing challenges we see.”
Dr. Estreet credits his alma mater for his career trajectory and praised Rebecca Gomez, Ph.D., the school’s interim dean; the two met in 2018 as co-chairs of the track on addiction at the Council on Social Work Education’s conference.
“VCU is definitely top tier,” Dr. Estreet says. “I particularly loved that I went to VCU, and as you can see, my education has certainly helped me a lot in my career.
“Rebecca is an exceptional leader. She also does a great job of listening and has a listening ear when it comes to addressing situations.”
» See the full story at VCU News.
Categories Alumni, Community, Education