2021 Student Leadership in Diversity Scholarship Recipients
Annually, the Michigan Chapter of the NASW is honored to award Student Leadership in Diversity Scholarships to outstanding social work students across the state. These scholarships recognize and promote leaders among social work students who are working on projects, research, or advocacy initiatives that promote diversity and social justice. Students demonstrate outstanding leadership qualities, have an above average academic record, and are working to promote the ideals of social work and our Code of Ethics. This year’s recipients are Sean Mason and Catie Bargerstock!
Sean Mason is a BSW candidate at Oakland University.
Sean is a veteran with the Marine Corps who spent time helping refugees. This experience led
Sean to the path of social work, fighting for what is right and just in society. In addition, Sean is deeply committed to addressing disparities in mental health care among incarcerated individuals that have an undiagnosed or untreated condition.
Oakland University Social Work Program Director Maria Beam calls Sean a positive force and strong leader in his social work program and in his roles in Phi Alpha Honor Society, stating that “his knowledge as an aspiring social worker coupled with his work ethic and tenacity to improve and understand with greater acuity suggests to me that it would be unfathomable that he would not become a successful scholar and social justice pillar in the community. I am greatly impressed by Sean as I see how authentic this commitment to social justice is.”
At OU, Sean is also engaged in a diversity, equity, and inclusion committee where he contributes to education and policy development aimed to address racial inequality in his community. In his current field placement, Sean supports those who are homeless or experiencing housing insecurity by providing critical resources and advocacy.
After finishing his BSW, Sean plans to complete a masters degree in social work while raising his daughters.
Catie Bargerstock is a MSW candidate at the University of Michigan School of Social Work.
Catie has spent her career dedicated to community service and helping others find ways to give back at local, state, national, and international levels. After finishing her undergraduate studies at Michigan State University, Catie spent a year in national service with AmeriCorps National Civilian Community Corps. Here she directed a team of ten peers through ten months of national service in the Pacific region of the United States, working on projects from building homes to providing camp counseling services for individuals with special needs.
After serving with AmeriCorps, Catie worked as a Service Learning Manager for BuildOn, a nonprofit that works to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service and education. Here she was in charge of overseeing one of the 250 person programs where she engaged 250 high school students in Detroit in an average of 400 hours of service learning monthly. Catie’s supervisor, Michael Matthis, wrote of her, “The tenacity which Catie has will never cease to amaze me...She has always responded by stepping into uncomfortable spaces in order to challenge herself.”
Since 2017, Catie has been involved with Elli’s House, a non-profit that serves survivors of human trafficking in the city of Detroit, and is the current Director of Communications on their Board of Directors and has volunteered with the Street Outreach Team. Deb Ellinger, Founder and Executive Director of Elli’s House raved about Catie, stating that she “has displayed integrity, empathy, compassion, and unconditional love to the women we serve on a daily basis,” and that she has “led and served with joy and passion”
After graduation, Catie plans to continue to work on behalf of Detroiters in a non-profit leadership capacity.
Please join us in congratulating both of this year’s Student Leadership in Diversity Scholarship recipients, Sean Mason and Catie Bargerstock!
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