Lee Westgate, MSW, MBA, LCSW-C, (he/him/his) is the manager of policy and advocacy at NASW’s national office and the recipient of two 2022 awards from the University of Maryland’s School of Social Work.
Westgate is an out transgender advocate and career social worker. In his role at NASW, he works to advance the association’s advocacy portfolio, including social justice and workforce priorities, primarily at the federal level. He has led the development of LGBTQIA+ curricula at UMSSW and has provided training to numerous organizations on delivering effective care to LGBTQIA+ populations, as well as to medically vulnerable and historically marginalized and underserved populations.
The UMSSW Alumni Association board of directors selected Westgate to receive the Innovation in Social Work Award for 2022. The award honors a UMSSW graduate who has demonstrated creativity in developing and implementing a program, service, or intervention that addresses an unmet societal need.
Westgate also received the 2022 Camara Jones Faculty Award related to his role as a clinical faculty member at UMSSW. He was selected for this Justice, Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (JEDI) award for his outstanding commitment, passion, and dedication to JEDI principles at the UMSSW and to the larger community.
In his acceptance speech for this award, Westgate said: “Today I dedicate this award to the people that keep me brave. I dedicate this award, too, to my expansive human family that is inclusive of every trans kid who needs to see a trans adult as an assurance that there is a future and that they should exist.”