/ SSWorks /
Tapping Each Other Nationwide alumni network of area coordinators builds connection and community
I find it’s really enriching and keeps me connected to people who are visionaries. And it always feeds me, because our work is really hard.” —KATE LESLIE, M.S.W. ’07
In Kate Leslie’s everyday professional life as an eating disorder psychotherapist in private practice, she spends a lot of time one on one with clients and much less of it commiserating with fellow clinicians.
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S M I T H COL L E G E SCHO O L FO R SO CIAL WO RK
But since 2016, Leslie, M.S.W. ’07, has had one consistent way to connect with fellow social workers in the Boulder, Colorado region: as an area coordinator for Smith College School for Social Work. In this role, she helps plan and host alumni gatherings to build SSW community, even when far from the campus. “The alumni networking opportunities are just really lovely,” said Leslie, who co-coordinates with Stephanie Small, M.S.W. ’04. “I find it’s really enriching and keeps me connected to people who are visionaries. And it always feeds me, because our work is really hard.” Leslie and Small are two of 10 area coordinators across the nation—in places from Richmond, Virginia, to Portland, Oregon—who volunteer to plan biannual gatherings for SSW alumni with the logistical and financial support of SSW’s Office of Alumni Engagement. Meetups have ranged from potlucks to more formal gatherings at local restaurants. According to Katie Potocnik Medina, the director of alumni engagement at SSW, “it was common for SSW alumni to graciously host potluck
