Please help us honor key members of the GSSW community!
The following Alumni Association Awards will be presented at the Colorado Social Work Month Celebration to be held on March 5, 2010:
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GSSW Service Award
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Community Service Award
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Robert L. Hawkins Social Work Achievement Award
Award criteria and other materials requested for nominations are provided in the GSSW 2010 Alumni Award Nomination Form.
The nomination deadline is Monday, February 15, 2010.
2008 Alumni Award Winners
GSSW Service Award - Ben Leonard, MSW '06
This award is presented to an alumnus/alumna who has contributed to, or served, the Graduate School of Social Work in a noteworthy and significant fashion, through personal effort and/or financial contribution.
Ben Leonard has served as President of the GSSW Alumni Association since the spring of 2008. He is an energetic and committed advocate for the school, whose enthusiasm has inspired many of his fellow alumni to increase their own financial support and involvement in alumni activities. Ben has already made a bequest commitment to GSSW, earning him a place in the University's Pioneer Society.
Almost immediately after earning his MSW in 2006, Ben joined the Alumni Council Programming Committee, where he was instrumental in planning events and encouraging alumni participation in them. During the past year, he has joined the Dean in co-hosting alumni events in communities throughout Colorado.
Ben also serves GSSW as an adjunct professor. He supervises two MSW students at their internships with the Pennock Center in Brighton, Colorado, where he is a staff therapist. His professional interests include work with couples and families, as well as with children, adolescents and adults. He is a Love & Logic facilitator.
Community Service Award - Jan Bezuidenhout, MSW '85
This award is presented to an alumnus/alumna who has demonstrated significant and continuous volunteer involvement in major community activities and/or charitable causes, above and beyond his/her employed position.
Jan Bezuidenhout has a long history of professional achievement in, and commitment to, hospice care and care of the terminally ill. She co-founded Namaste Comfort Care Hospice and Palliative Care in Denver and has served as its President and CEO since 1998. During that time, Jan's outstanding business management has ensured that Namaste never turns away a patient because of his or her inability to pay for services. Jan's work with Namaste clearly demonstrates her long-standing commitment to serving historically stigmatized and disenfranchised communities.
Jan's volunteer activities are also particularly notable. She has been a valuable contributor over the years to a wide variety of organizations including the National Association of Social Workers, the National Hospice Organization Council of Hospice Professionals, and the Better Business Bureau Foundation Board, where she has served as Chair of the Senior Outreach Committee since 2004. A sought-after teacher and speaker, both locally and around the nation, Jan has also volunteered with the Colorado Mental Health Association since 1997 as a member of their speakers' bureau and crisis response team.
Jan's volunteer commitment extends well beyond the Denver community. In 1991, she founded the Mvurwi Care Group for hospice and palliative care in Zimbabwe, working there for two years as a volunteer trainer.
Jan's many awards include a 2006 Ethics in Business Award from the Colorado Ethics in Business Association, and the Torch Award from the Denver/Boulder Better Business Bureau, which recognizes high ethical standards in the marketplace.
Robert L. Hawkins Social Work Achievement Award - Mary Carraher, MSW '81
This award is presented to an alumnus/alumna who has demonstrated professional achievement by being named executive director, manager, chairperson of the board, etc., of a social work agency or organization; or by reaching a level of prominence in education, practice or politics, etc; or by receiving national recognition in the field of social work. This award is named in honor of Robert L. Hawkins, MSW '67, who rose through the ranks at Colorado Psychiatric Institute in Pueblo, eventually becoming the first social worker appointed as its Superintendent. Under Hawkins' leadership, the Institute became a model psychiatric treatment facility.
Mary Carraher has devoted her entire career to social work. This year, she celebrates her 20th anniversary as Executive Director of Project Self-Sufficiency in Loveland, Colorado. This non-profit organization serves low-income single parents in their efforts to build strong, health families, achieve economic independence, and become free from community and government assistance.
Under her capable leadership, Project Self-Sufficiency has more than doubled the number of families it serves, providing a holistic approach that includes guidance and advocacy, education and career development, programs for children, and such practical resources as housing assistance, car repairs and computer donations. The agency is regarded as one of the foremost agencies addressing poverty in northern Colorado.
Larimer County United Way President and CEO Gordan Thibedeau calls Mary "one of the finest non-profit leaders I know," noting that "her achievements in this community are unrivaled."
In 2006, Mary was appointed by the District Attorney to the Victim Compensation Board of the Eighth Judicial District. Over the past year, she has also served on the Larimer County United Way Pathways Past Poverty Steering Committee. She is an active member of the Women's FAN Coalition of the Women's Foundation of Colorado, serves as treasurer of the Council of Human Service Agency Directors, and recently served as one of two community representatives on the editorial board of the Fort Collins Coloradoan newspaper.
In 2007, Mary was one of twenty Women's Foundation "Be Bold" recipients, recognized for their efforts to promote the well-being of women and children in Colorado.