Volume 1, Issue 2 | March 2005

Alumni Notes

Jenna Colburn, MSW ’03, is creating and managing a new foster family agency, Alliance Human Services Foster Family Agency, located in Rancho Cucamonga. The agency specializes in placing special-needs children and offers treatment foster care, a more in-depth support system.

Lynn L. Nickens, MSW ’89, who is in private practice in San Bernardino, has written a book entitled, Misdiagnosis of African-Americans: Racial and Ethnic Bias in Mental Health Treatment, with an expected release by the end of Summer 2005. She also had an article, “Treating African-American Clients: Racial and Ethnic Considerations for Practice,” published in the NASW California News in February 2004.

Maureen O’Keefe Hodge, MSW ’96, is working in a community development in a slum community of Honduras, Central America. She and her husband left their regular jobs in the states and are working with a Christian-based non-profit doing economic and community development.

Mark Spratt, MSW ’03, is a consultant at Deloitte Consulting LLP and specializes in global e-Learning, Web-Based Training (WBT), organizational development, change and process reengineering. He has worked with various corporations, non-profits, state and local governments, and university groups for over five years. He has dual master’s degrees in Social Work and Public Administration and is an associate clinical social worker. He has expertise in developing and delivering curriculum on large-scale system implementations and has experience in implementing complete e-Learning solutions, including distance learning. He has designed and implemented learning and training solutions for some of Deloitte’s largest clients. His forte is assisting client organizations in building sustainable training and change initiatives that have significant return on investment because they are based on competency modeling and talent management. His grounding in corporate organizational development and effectiveness augments his learning credentials.

Rising Stars
Carlos Alcantara
Jenee Areeckal
Jennifer Ritchkoff

Awards & Recognition
Devon Brooks
Kathleen Ell
Frances Feldman
Steve Hydon
Helen Northen
Wendy Smith
Brad Zebrack

Published & Presented

Alumni Notes
Please email alumni news to sweditor@usc.edu

Did You Know?
Each year, the USC School of Social Work funds $1 million in scholarships and loan support and more than $700,000 in field agency stipends.