Registration open for MVSU’s Annual Social Work Conference

March 21, 2018

ITTA BENA, Miss— Mississippi Valley State University is gearing up to offer a unique opportunity for professional development, networking and earning continuing education credit for area social workers during its 38th Annual Social Work Conference.

Slated for April 5-6 at the Leflore County Civic Center in Greenwood, this year’s conference is themed “Social Workers in the Mississippi Delta: Shaking it Up!” and will feature plenary speakers on a variety of professional “hot topics”, including the digital environment, diversity, and ethics.

The opening plenary session will be keynoted by Oleta Garrett Fitzgerald, director of the Children's Defense Fund's Southern Regional Office on Thursday. The luncheon speaker for Friday will be Attorney Gloria J. Green, Special Assistant Attorney General from the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office

Attendees will enjoy concurrent sessions that will explore three tracts of knowledge-based presentations—Social Workers in the Digital Age, Social Workers Empowering Our Communities and Social Workers in Micro and Mezzo Practice.

“This conference brings together social workers from the rural Mississippi Delta as well as from Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee and Alabama to share knowledge and practice skills related to social work with rural communities,” said MVSU Assistant Professor and Master of Social Work Director Dr. Cynthia P. Honore’-Collins, the event’s co-chair.

In addition, Honore’-Collins said the event is an opportunity for professionals and students to gain state-of-the-art social work knowledge and practice skills.

“It is the major annual conference for front-line social workers in the Delta and enables them to receive continuing education credits necessary to keep their licenses current under Mississippi Law,” she said. It is also an outlet for our students to network with agencies and organizations that may become future employers.”

Fitzgerald has devoted her life to the pursuit of justice and equality for all. As director of the Children's Defense Fund's Southern Regional Office, she has placed particular emphasis on education, including early childhood education, children’s healthcare access and breaking the cradle to prison pipeline pattern that is all too prevalent in communities of color.

She is also the regional administrator for the Southern Rural Black Women's Initiative for Economic & Social Justice (SRBWI). SRBWI operates in 77 counties across the Black Belts of Alabama, Southwest Georgia, and the Mississippi Delta. She is also the principal for an innovative project, the Supporting Partnerships to Assure Ready Kids (SPARK) Initiative, which has operated in more than 12 Mississippi school districts.

In 1993, Fitzgerald became President Bill Clinton’s appointee as White House liaison and executive assistant to Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy. Later, she was named the department’s director of intergovernmental affairs where her duties included working on tribal governmental issues and coordinating the administration’s long-term recovery of Midwestern states affected by The Great Flood of 1993.

Green received her B. A. from Tougaloo College and went on to complete her J. D. at the University of Mississippi. She currently works with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office as Counsel, and serves as a prosecutor and administrative hearing officer for state and regulatory agencies and boards, including the Auctioneer Commission, Commercial Mobile Radio Service Board, Nursing Home Administrators, Physical Therapy Board, Examiners for Social Workers and Marriage and Family Therapists, Board of Nursing, Real Estate Appraiser Board, Board of Public Accountancy, Chiropractic Board, Licensed Professional Counselors, Massage Therapy Board, Optometry Board, Psychology Board, Funeral Board, Architecture Board, Engineering Board, and Department of Finance and Administration.

Prior to her current positions, Green worked with the Civil Litigation and Human Service Divisions for the State of Mississippi. She also served as the Director of Disability Determination Services and Managing Attorney for North Mississippi Rural Legal Services.

The conference registration fees are: $110 (after March 15); $115 on-site (two days); $50 students (with ID); $75 one day (Thursday only/lunch included); and $55 one day (Friday).

Conference attendees will have the opportunity to earn up to 10 CE's (continue education credits) that can include diversity and ethics hours. Participants must complete the two-day registration to qualify for 10 CEs.

This year’s conference will be guided by conference co-chairs Honore’-Collins and MVSU Visiting Professor Dr. Vincent Venturini.

Interested vendors and resource table staff should contact MVSU MSW Instructor/Field Coordinator Diane Boston at (662) 254-3089 for more details.

For questions or more information, contact the MVSU Department of Social Work at (662) 254-3365.