NASW’s National Conference Focuses on Social Work’s Legacy and Future

By Paul R. Pace

More than 2,400 people registered for NASW’s national conference, which took place June 15-19, in Chicago, with the theme “Social Work: Celebrating Our Legacy, Developing the Future.” “The attendance is a testament to our profession,” said Heidi McIntosh, NASW’s chief operating officer, during opening remarks.

The opening keynote speaker was Deborah Archer, president of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), America’s premier civil rights and civil liberties organization. In addition to serving as the eighth president of the ACLU, Archer is a professor of clinical law at the New York University School of Law, and faculty director of the law school’s Center on Race, Inequality, and the Law. “As social workers, you are on the front lines of justice every single day,” Archer told attendees. “You serve communities that others overlook. You lift up people that others write off. And you show up for those our systems continue to fail day after day.”

“You understand better than most the deep connection between civil rights, civil liberties, and social justice, because you work in those intersections each and every day,” Archer said. “The work that I do is not possible without you.”

Much of American history can be understood as a struggle to build an infrastructure of civil rights and social justice, she explained, adding that there are efforts by lawmakers to tear down and destroy this infrastructure.

“Voting rights are under siege,” Archer stressed. “Immigrants are being scapegoated and dehumanized. Free speech, once a shared civic value, is increasingly weaponized or suppressed depending on the speaker and the message they are saying.”

There is an attempt to redefine who belongs in the American democracy and who does not, she said. The ACLU knows these attacks are connected. It’s about maintaining power and control, not about protecting liberty. “The anecdote is collective resistance, relentless legal advocacy, and the power of communities standing up for each other,” she said.

U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez

Continuing the theme of fighting to preserve democracy was a keynote by U.S. Rep. Delia Ramirez, D-Ill. The daughter of working-class Guatemalan immigrants, Ramirez is an accomplished legislator, social service director, community leader, and coalition builder who has dedicated her life and career to advocating for working families.

“I’m in the fight of our fight to stand up for every one of our rights in Congress, both in Homeland Security and Veterans Affairs, and certainly many caucuses,” she told conference attendees.

Despite efforts by the Trump administration to take away birthright citizenship, “as long as I am here and the lead sponsor of the birthright citizenship bill (H.R. 3368: Born in the USA Act) in the United States Congress, they are not taking citizenship away,” she said to cheers by the audience.

“It’s particularly important we are together at a time of such profound uncertainty,” Ramirez said. “(There is) pain and grief for so many people. Across the country we are witnessing a rise in violent rhetoric, anti-democratic actions that undermine our shared humanity and threaten our future.”

A dehumanizing immigration system, a housing crisis that leaves families without shelter or security, climate change and the dismantling of government social safety nets sounds bleak and frightening, she said. “Generations of social workers know that courage is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to act in spite of our fear. Today, at this moment, we need more courage.”

“In these times, which can feel overwhelming and scary, your work has proven to be more critical than ever before,” Ramirez said. “You are fostering environments of mutual protection.”

We live in a time where the presidential administration has declared war on safety net programs and civil rights, she added. “We must continue fostering safe environments for everyone.”

Matthew Selekman

Keynote speaker Matthew Selekman, MSW, LCSW, is founder and director of Partners for Collaborative Solutions. He runs a private practice in Lake Forest, Ill. He also is the director of Partners for Collaborative Solutions, an international family and brief therapy training and consultation practice in Evanston, Ill.

He talked about some of the therapeutic tools and strategies he uses with clients: listening and looking for client anomalies to seize; the use of respectful curiosity; extraordinary presence; the use of humor; absurdity and playfulness; and the use of metaphorical questions, to name a few.

“I tell jokes, I tell stories, I fall out of my chair in amazement in the steps (clients) have taken,” he told the audience. “Sometimes I walk out of the room and they don’t know if I am coming back. There’s always some element of surprise.”

Selekman said he wants his clients to say they had fun at his therapy sessions and that they are eager to return to see what may happen next. He added that he strives for “extraordinary presence.”

“That’s not just listening generously to the storyline of my client’s situation, it’s also being able to pay attention to what you are thinking and feeling.”

Selekman suggested social workers adopt a “mindfulness practice.”

“You are going to see and hear things that you probably would have missed before you got into meditating,” he said. “It really helps increase your self-awareness of being truly present with your clients.”

In addition to the keynote presentations, the conference included:

• Plenary sessions led by experts on the topics of AI and social work; social media’s influence on social work; and what the future of social work may hold
• Additional presentations by Lurie Daniel Favors, executive director at the Center for Law and Social Justice; and Illinois state Sen. Karina Villa, MSW
• Numerous breakout sessions led by experts in various areas of social work
• The NASW Film Festival featuring “Silent Beauty,” “A Woman on the Outside” and “I Didn’t See You There”
• “A Night Out with NASW”
• Free career coaching that offered one-on-one career advice
• Free headshots and an NASW lounge within the exhibit hall
• An ACSW meetup to connect attendees with some of the leaders in the field
• A Juneteenth celebration
• Poster presentations and networking events
• NASW and NASW Foundation award recipients honored throughout the conference.

Next year’s national conference will be held in Washington, D.C. From June 10-13,2026! Click here for more information.