CSULB
professor honored as Social Worker of the
Year
Photo courtesy of the department of social
work
Eileen
Mayers Pasztor is presented with the Social
Worker of the Year award.
By
Janelle Aviado
On-line Forty-Niner
Eileen
Mayers Pasztor, a faculty member in the
department of social work at Cal State Long
Beach, was named Social Worker of the Year
for the Los Angeles region of the California
chapter of the National Association of Social
Workers.
Pasztor
was honored at the Braun Auditorium at Huntington
Hospital in Pasadena, March 22, for her
more than 30 years of service in the child
welfare field as a public agency caseworker,
supervisor, administrator, curriculum developer
and trainer working internationally, as
an educator and as a foster and adoptive
parent for children with special needs.
“I
am delighted that the National Association
of Social Workers, California chapter, Region
I, is able to honor the outstanding career
of Dr. Eileen Mayers Pasztor by naming her
the Social Worker of the Year for 2004,”
said Bill Gould, director of the Los Angeles
region. “She brings energy and purpose
to activities that she is involved in and
her commitment to empowering disenfranchised
populations is inspirational.”
The
Social Worker of the Year award honors a
dedicated social worker who has broad professional
social work experience and demonstrated
leadership, voluntary association experience,
diverse and multicultural experience, made
an impact on social policy, been an advocate
for clients and has an exceptional practice.
“Eileen’s
wealth of experience has been very helpful,”
said Erin Riggs, the association’s
California director of government relations.
“To have the broad based experience
that she does has been imperative in effectively
advocating at the state capital, especially
this year, when so many legislative bills
have been introduced relating to child welfare
and the ability to provide quality services
to our clients.”
Social
workers in various communities were recognized
throughout March by the association as part
of its celebration of National Professional
Social Work Month. The Los Angeles region
is one of nine regions within the association’s
California chapter, and covers the San Gabriel
Valley, East Los Angeles and South Bay-
Long Beach areas.
“It
is an honor to be valued and appreciated
by one’s peers because it is our peers
who truly understand the nature of our work,”
said Pasztor, who is currently serving as
vice president for legislative and political
action for the association’s- California
chapter. “It is a privilege to be
a social worker, but it is also a humbling
experience. We are profoundly aware
that we have profession because of the pain
and suffering of others, and we know we
are successful on a case-by-case basis when
our clients no longer need us. We
know we will be successful on a larger scale
when the world no longer needs us.”
“Therefore,”
she added, “I accept this award on
behalf of all social workers and the work
we do, as well as the clients we serve.”
Prior
to joining the faculty at CSULB in 1999,
Pasztor worked for the Washington, DC -
based Child Welfare League of America as
its national program director for foster
care, kinship care and adoption, as well
as on international projects, and as its
western office director in Los Angeles.
Pasztor,
58, has a bachelor’s degree in history
from Stanford University, an master’s
of social work from The Ohio State University
and a doctorate of social work from the
Catholic University of America in Washington,
DC.
|
