From the President
Presidency: Experience of a Lifetime
By Gary Bailey, ACSW
 Last
year at this time, I wrote that it had been my honor and privilege
to represent you, the more than 153,000 members of NASW. The last
two years have been filled with excitement, challenge, energy
and, sometimes, exhaustion. I noted that I had always felt good
about being a professional social worker and could not imagine
a better, more rewarding job than to be president of our association.
Well, 160,000 air miles, 77 cities, 35 states, three U.S. territories,
three countries, 38 chapter visits and thousands of social workers
later, I am even more convinced that this has been the experience
of a lifetime.
I want to thank all of you who have been a part of this experience
for your support and dedication to our profession, our social
work values and our professional association.
My sincere thanks and appreciation to NASW Executive Director
Betsy Clark for her unwavering dedication and efforts, to the
NASW national office staff — particularly Doreta Richards and
Taledia Washington in the Office of Governance for their support
— and to my colleagues at Simmons College School of Social Work
for all that they have done to help make this possible.
Trying to identify which activities over the past 730 days have
had greatest impact on me is akin to a parent trying to identify
which child they love more; each experience and interaction has
been unique, and all of them have contributed to my development
of a broader understanding of how diverse this country and our
profession are, not only racially and ethnically, but also in
terms of practice and philosophy.
The past two years have seen continued focus on terrorism and
war; a shift in the political culture, with a greater emphasis
on control versus care; and an ever-increasing debate about the
role of faith in our society and in our government. We have witnessed
the debates about end-of-life decision making and stem cell research.
These are challenging issues and, indeed, challenging times.
As social workers, we tend to be hard on ourselves as a profession
and, often, on our association. We don't always appreciate how
significant we are to society. But I have seen how powerful we
are — and how powerful we could be — if we owned and embraced
our significance in the world. We have strong positions on all
of the issues I identified above, and inherent in all of our positions
are the core values of self-determination, peace, social justice,
nondiscrimination and equity. We are the helping profession; indeed,
"Help Starts Here!"
I am pleased to have been president as NASW began its 50th year
with the launch of the national Social Work Public Education Campaign.
These two activities have provided us with the means to reconnect
with, and recommit to, the mission of our association and our
profession and to share these with the broader community of which
we are a part.
I have agreed to become the chairperson of this important national
activity, and I want to encourage each of you to consider how
you can support your profession and this vital work being done
by NASW. The Social Work Public Education Campaign is already
generating invaluable insight and data about our profession and
will help people understand and appreciate all that social work
is and our contributions toward creating a truly civil society.
So, I end as I began, thanking all of you for your support, wishing
Elvira Craig de Silva, our new president, an equally rich experience
and knowing that the association will be well attended to in her
capable hands. I want to thank my family and, most importantly,
my partner Rick McCarthy for his unwavering support for the last
three years; it could not have been possible without him.
For one last time, I will paraphrase James Brown and say, "Say
it loud: I am a social worker and I am proud" to have been
president of NASW.
To comment to Gary Bailey: president@naswdc.org
From June 2005 NASW News. © 2005 National
Association of Social Workers. All Rights Reserved. NASW News
articles may be copied for personal use, but proper notice of
copyright and credit to the NASW News must appear on all copies
made. This permission does not apply to reproduction for advertising,
promotion, resale, or other commercial purposes.
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