She gained clinical expertise in Family Therapy, Elder abuse and Domestic Violence, Trauma, DBT, CBT, Mindfulness, and evidence-based practices utilizing individual and group therapy. She has experience in staff supervision and training. As Clinical Director of a Geriatric Outpatient Behavioral Health Program, she provided program design, implementation and evaluation, regulation compliance, submitting funding applications, and communication with funders and board members. Sylvia performed public speaking presentations on a variety of clinical and administrative topics to agencies, schools, and conferences. She was Co-chair of Niagara County Task Force that developed training programs for police officers in domestic violence situations.

Sylvia has been a NASW member since 1980. She was a Board Member of the NYS Chapter and has been an active member of the Western Division Steering committee. Sylvia believes in the importance of identifying with a professional organization that advocates for its members. She has a strong identification as a Social Worker and participated in SUNYAB MSW Mentor program for graduate students.

Sylvia retired after a satisfying 32-year career. Her recent volunteering was with Jewish Family Services Refugee Resettlement Program for Afghan refugees. She still maintains her license although she has been retired for 13 years. Sylvia continues to identify as a Social Worker and maintains contact with the Profession.

During the early stages of her career, Dr. Baugus joined Jefferson Community College as their first Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Over the years, she worked her way up to Director of the Health & Wellness Center, and eventually Dean of Students. Through her role as Dean, she effectively led the college by initiating policy revisions aimed at creating a more equitable student conduct system. An expert in her field, she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Sociology from Bucknell University and a Master of Social Work from Marywood University. Subsequently, Dr. Baugus expanded her professional knowledge by completing an EdD at Northcentral University.

Driven to remain abreast of changes in the field, Dr. Baugus volunteers as a peer-reviewer for Taylor & Francis publications, and she aligns herself with NASW. As a military spouse, she contributes to her community as the leader of the United States Army’s Soldier and Family Readiness Group. Throughout her career, Dr. Baugus has leveraged her expertise in social work as a board member for the Samaritan Medical Center, PIVOT, the North Country Council of Social Agencies, and the Transitional Living Services of Northern New York.

Due to her vast breadth of knowledge, Dr. Baugus has authored several articles, including a peer-reviewed, “Food Insecurity, Inadequate Childcare & Transportation Disadvantage: Student Retention and Persistence of Community College Students,” in the Community College Journal of Research and Practice, “Breaking Down Nonacademic Barriers: Outcomes for the First Two Years of a Community School Approach,” and “Student Retention and Persistence: A Quantitative Study of the Relationships of Non-academic Barriers on Community College Students in Northern New York.”

In light of her professional achievements, Dr. Baugus won the Thomas W. Meyers Award for Co-Curricular Services from Jefferson Community College in 2014. Two years later, Northern New York Business Magazine honored her with the 20 Under 40 Award for Leadership. Likewise, she was named a 2018 Woman of Distinction by New York State Senator Patty Ritchie, received the Outstanding Volunteer Service Award from the United States Army, and won the Leighton Whitaker Memorial Award for Excellence in Counseling Center Scholarship from the Association of University and College Counseling Center Directors. While her career has been filled with highlights, she takes the most pride in building the Health & Wellness Center at Jefferson Community College and having some of her research published in the Community College Journal of Research and Practice. Another standout moment was receiving the Active Minds Healthy Campus Award for her work with Jefferson Community College.

Javita and her team were the recipient of the Columbia School of Social Work’s Linda and Peter Hoffman Writing Award, for her team’s pioneering research proposal on understanding the lived experiences of non-Syrian refugees in Turkey. Javita’s career highlight as a social worker span from working as a volunteer at local non-profits, to tutoring kindergarteners from low-income households to help build their literacy, social and cognitive skills for kindergarten as an AmeriCorps volunteer. From working as an evening counselor in a domestic violence shelter, to conducting home visit to ensure the safety of children and families with child protective services stay together, Javita strives to bring support and resources to the families she serves as a social worker. From frontline crisis counselor during the COVID-19 pandemic, to grassroots fundraising and online advocacy for women and children, to working with incarcerated individuals with serious mental illness in a prison setting, Javita continues to exceed and exemplifies the core strengths, characteristics, and qualities of an exceptional social worker, both domestically and internationally.

Javita has proven and continues to display the core ethics of a social worker. She has a passion for social justice, women’s empowerment, quality education, mental health awareness, and investing in the future generation. Javita’s outstanding leadership qualities have been showcased through her work with children, young adults, families, incarcerated individuals, and local members within the New York State community and internationally. Her ability to communicate as a leader with a humanitarian vision, inspiring her fellow peers, motivating change, providing opportunities for growth and support, and promoting diversity as an international social worker has contributed to the overall success and betterment of children and families within marginalized communities.

Javita is a lifetime member of the International Honor Society in Psychology (PSI CHI) and the National History Honor Society (Phi Alpha Theta). She is an active member in good standing with the National Association for Social Workers (NASW) in New York State. In addition, Javita is a member of the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) Diaspora Special Interest Group (SIG) and a registered International Social Worker with the Social Work England (SWE) boards in the United Kingdom. She is an avid traveler and believes in cultivating a curious mind and a kind heart.

Dr. Ward earned her doctorate in social work and sociology, a master's in divinity, and a master's in social work from Boston University. As a macro-trained community activist and a research scholar with over 25 years of practice, she has been the lead investigator or research associate on a number of studies focusing on society's most vulnerable, underserved, proven-risk, and oppressed populations and communities. In addition, Dr. Ward has led projects in communities and within organizations that shift status quo outcomes. These days, she is particularly interested in working with school districts and non-profits to produce measurable outcomes for a key demographic with disparate outcomes. Dr. Ward is a strategic planner, relentless advocate, and community learner. She is a content expert in child welfare, equitable practices for educational systems, health equity, criminal justice, and civic engagement; she has presented at local, state, and national conferences.

For the last four years, Dr. Ward has been the lead facilitator of the Niagara Falls Health Equity Task Force. The Task Force has received several awards for its innovative, collaborative, data-driven, and action-oriented intervention method. In addition, as director of the Race, Education, Advocacy, College-Credit-Courses in High School program, Dr. Ward provides first-generation students with an opportunity to develop transformative college habits through a five-semester pre-college program.

Dr. Ward enjoys serving local and regional organizations. She is a member of the board of directors at MENTOR New York, The Aquarium of Niagara Falls, Community Missions, Inc., The Education Collaborative of WNY, and Catholic Health Systems. Dr. Ward co-led the university’s Identifying and Dismantling Racial Injustice Task Force and the City of Niagara Falls Social Justice Commission Employment Subcommittee. As a teacher-scholar, Dr. Ward is committed to helping students and community members identify social injustices that warrant real solutions.

While that may have been a “late” start, it was the beginning of a decades long career in healthcare, providing direct trauma-informed, crisis and supportive services, supervising and training others, and promoting the profession of social work to countless interns, other healthcare professionals, and the general public. Her career in a municipal hospital system started in the outpatient HIV clinic, where disparities in life opportunities were obvious among the many different patients served, before the phrase “social determinants of health” was on everybody’s lips. She later became Social Work Supervisor in the Surgical Intensive Care and Burn Intensive Care units. Additionally, she served as Educational Coordinator, planning continuing education; leading seminars on inter-professional education; designing and teaching courses on clinical thinking and writing; and serving as liaison to multiple Schools of Social Work in the screening, placing and training of interns. In addition, she developed and led monthly joint training and support sessions for the interns at two hospitals.

In her initial post retirement career, Marcia became an Independent Living Donor Advocate at a large teaching hospital, where part of her responsibility was to advocate for equitable care for organ donors and recipients, focusing on ethical and unbiased treatment. While there she took on many leadership positions, including founding, developing and chairing a Clinical Supervision group to teach other clinical social workers how to supervise new social workers; setting up supervision schedules; recruiting new supervisors; and then providing supervision to the supervisors, with the mission of elevating all LMSW’s to the highest level of licensure, and the highest level of care within each patient encounter. She developed and co-chaired a hospital wide Bereavement Committee, which was on emergency call to provide services to staff alongside hospital chaplains. She became the facilitator of Schwartz Rounds—a nationally recognized set of seminars where staff can process the emotional impact of their work in a private and non judgmental setting—which she led alongside the former Dean of the medical school. Additionally, she was one of only two non-nurses nationally to become a certified trainer for Creative Healthcare Management Relationship-Based Training, designed to promote equitable and bias free care among primary nursing.

Marcia’s commitment to her profession and NASW are evidenced by her lengthy volunteer history with NASW- NYS, as membership committee member, Board Member at Large, Secretary to the Board, and finally President of the Board. She is currently a moderator of the Private Practice listserv of NASW-NYS, Private Practice Direct. She maintains a private practice in Larchmont, NY, focusing primarily on grief, loss and bereavement. Finally, she is a proud mother of 3 amazing adults and their 3 wonderful partners, grandmother of 4 grandchildren who keep her learning, and grateful wife to her partner of 29 years, Dr. Mark Cannon, who keeps her laughing.

Marissa is currently the Director of Specialized Programs at CancerCare and is responsible for delivering free services to people whose lives are affected by cancer, including individual counseling, support groups, and resource navigation. Her role includes program development and management, while maintaining a clinical practice from an intersectionality lens and inclusive framework.  She is dedicated to oncology social work and committed to improving outcomes for all people impacted by a cancer diagnosis. She maintains a culturally competent and inclusive practice by addressing health care disparities and celebrating diversity with her clients and colleagues alike.

Marissa graduated from NYU and has since received post-graduate training on topics including Clinical Supervision, Executive Leadership in Not for Profit Sector, and Clinical Trauma Competency.  As a life long learner, she is passionate about mentoring her supervisees, and received Seminar in Field Instruction certification to support social work interns and students during the beginning of their career.

Marissa is a member of the Association of Oncology Social Work (AOSW), serving as a volunteer on the Awards Committee. As part of the National Association of Social Workers – New York City Chapter, she is serving in her first term in the Delegate Assembly. In this role, she will be part of the decision-making body that sets organizational policy, establishes program priorities, and develops stances on public and professional issues.

Marissa has a passion for the written word. Her work has been featured in several publications on topics related to navigating cancer for diverse and vulnerable populations. These articles have ranged on topics including improving outcomes for patients and addressing disparities.

In 2020, she was recognized as an emerging leader with NASW-NYC. She was honored with a Leadership Award that showcased her achievements and commitments to social justice in the field. In 2021, she was awarded the 40 Under 40 in Cancer Award, recognizing the contributions being made across the field of cancer.

Owens was certified in Healing Centered Engagement in 2021 and has included that in his framework for addressing issues of racial justice and equity. He is currently working on transformative leadership with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, the Wilson County Department of Social Services in North Carolina the Office of Administration Court in New Jersey. He is engaged locally with health care professionals in Schenectady and other municipalities in New York State. In 2022, he joined the Mary Pender Green Consulting Agency and will provide services to various programs and organizations in New York City.

Owens has provided training on Implicit Bias to the Albany Police Department, local community stakeholders, and the New York State Unified Courts and Bar Association. He has presented training sessions on the mind science of bias, anxiety and threat to the Mediation Centers in Columbia and Dutchess Counties, and Raleigh, North Carolina. He worked with municipal staff in Goldsboro, North Carolina on leadership, managing difficult conversations and bias.

In 2017, he provided leadership development sessions to program managers and leaders of federally funded health marriage and responsible fatherhood programs from across the nation.

He has worked with schools and school districts, facilitating sessions with administrators on Implicit Bias, Leadership, Cultural Competence and Mastering Difficult Conversations, and with the Albany Law School on Diversity and Inclusion efforts, facilitating listening sessions with faculty, professors, and students.

His work in health disparities includes convening the Albany Minority Health Task Force for the University at Albany, Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities, and consultation with the Adirondack Health Initiative, presenting workshops on health literacy and culture to stakeholders in the upstate region of New York State.

He was appointed to the NYS Board of Regents Workgroup to Improve Outcomes for Boys and Males of Color in 2015. He has participated as a member of the Campaign for Black Male Achievement, the national advisory board on Improving Outcomes for African American Males in the Child Welfare System: Identifying Effective Programs and Services, and the Alliance Network of Social Service Administrators Committed to Racial Equity, and is an advisory board member of the Child Welfare Adoption Leadership Institute (CWALI):  Developing and Supporting Emerging Leaders of Color.

Owens has coached track and field, was the host of smooth jazz radio stations in the Capital Region for nine years, and has also worked as a treating clinician for the National Football League substance abuse program.

He received his BA in Sociology from Rider University and a master’s degree in Social Work specializing in Criminal and Juvenile Justice from the University of Pennsylvania. He is a soloist, and member of the male choir. He and Terry Owens have been married for 30 years, are active members and Deacons at the Macedonia Baptist Church. They are the proud parents of Kayla, a graduate of American University, Georgetown University and who is currently enrolled at George Mason University, where she is seeking a PhD in Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

Senator Brouk serves as Chair of the Senate Mental Health Committee and is working to revolutionize New York State’s mental health and substance abuse crisis response so that those in need receive compassionate, therapeutic care. In her first term, the Senator passed legislation to create a 9-8-8 substance abuse and mental health crisis lifeline, improve maternal mental health screenings, and maintain diagnostic authority for thousands of mental health practitioners. She has also passed Budgets that invest in our mental health workforce, delivering the first COLAs (Cost of Living Adjustment) in over a decade.

Senator Brouk is focused on supporting our families. She is working to improve the racially disparate maternal health outcomes in our community and state, and sponsors legislation to make it easier to access the emotional, physical and informational support provided by birth doulas. The Senator has also delivered the largest aid increase ever to our schools, securing over a billion dollars of school aid for SD-55. She is helping hardworking families get ahead: fighting proposed energy rate hikes; making state government more transparent, accessible and accountable; and ensuring that our communities have the resources to safely sustain and enrich our families from before birth to old age.

Senator Brouk was born and raised in the City of Rochester and surrounding suburbs before earning her B.A. in Psychology at Williams College. Before her election to the Senate, Senator Brouk’s dedication to public service led her to join the United States Peace Corps, working as a health educator in rural Guatemala. And as a leader in non-profit community development, she spent a decade building educational, environmental, and senior services initiatives in her own community and across New York State.