Our graduates go on to make significant change in their communities and can be found in schools, hospitals, correctional facilities, and agencies across Canada. We want to collaborate with our alumni and learn how we can better support them. Consider connecting with us!

Our alumni
About Helen Mann
In 1943, Helen Mann became the first lecturer hired at the University of Manitoba School of Social Work. Mann worked for the School for 31 years. Throughout her career, Mann made an enormous contribution to shaping the standards of social work practice in the Winnipeg community and across Canada. She also contributed to the development of social work in Canada and was renowned for the way in which she combined her skills as an educator and scholar with those of personal graciousness and sensitivity.
Mann’s wisdom and experience has had a profound effect on the Faculty of Social Work. In the Fall of 1992, the Faculty of Social Work created the Helen Mann 50th Anniversary Award to honour her memory. A Helen Mann award was also established to provide bursaries to students who are registered in fulltime studies in the BSW program at the William Norrie Centre or at Thompson, Manitoba, and who require financial assistance in order to continue their studies.
Honouring our community
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The Helen Mann 50th Anniversary Award
The Helen Mann 50th Anniversary Award recognizes a person or organization that has made an outstanding contribution to the social work profession and/or to the field of social work in Manitoba. The award is presented at our Homecoming events. Everyone is encouraged to nominate a social worker/activist or an organization.
The Helen Mann 50th Anniversary Award recipients to be honoured during our Homecoming 2023 reception:
- Jill Taylor-Brown (2023)
- Lynne Fineman (2022)
- Lindsay Bacala (2021)
- Lorna Hanson (2020)
- Jainna Cabral (2019)
Past award recipients
- Kathy Mallett (1993)
- Jeanette Block (1994)
- Margo Buck (1995)
- Pat Woolley (1996)
- Don Lugtig (1997)
- Elsie Flett (1998)
- Gisèle Saurette-Roch & Tom Simms (1999)
- Addie Penner (2000)
- Irma MacKay (2001)
- Maureen Kalloo (2002)
- Kenneth Martin (2003)
- Don Browne (2006)
- Bruce Unfried (2007)
- Sel Burrows (2008)
- Grand Chief Phil Fontaine (2009)
- Audrey Lumsden & Bert Crocker (2010)
- Jaime Carrasco & Martha Aviles (2011)
- Esther Blum & Colleen Waters (2012)
- Sister Jean Ell (2013)
- Sandra Loewen (2014)
- Clark Brownlee (2015)
- Yvonne Pompana (2016)
- Chuck Groening (2017)
- The Comité garderie de l’Association étudiante de l’Université de Saint-Boniface (2018)
Homecoming 2023
Faculty of Social Work 80th Anniversary Homecoming 2023
The Honourable Anita R. Neville, Lieutenant Governor of Manitoba will be hosting a reception for this year’s Faculty of Social Work 80th Anniversary Homecoming 2023.
During the reception, we will be presenting the Helen Mann 50th Anniversary Award to members of the community who have made outstanding contributions to the field of social work.
Thank you to those who registered for this event. Capacity limit has been reached. Registration is now closed.
If you did not receive a Homecoming e-vite, please update your contact information with Alumni Relations.
Collaborating with our community
Publications:
Our colleague Dr. Alean Al-Krenawi published a book titled: "Culture, Diversity and Mental Health - Enhancing Clinical Practice". The book discusses the importance of culture and diversity within society through multicultural, cross-cultural, and intercultural encounters while applying psychological effectiveness to manage core competencies.
Al-Krenawi is a professor and chair of the BSW Program, Spitzer Department of Social Work, Ben-Guiron University of the Negev.
Dr. Tracey Bone, Faculty of Social Work Associate Professor, also contributes a chapter in this book titled: "Deaf Mental Health: Enhancing Linguistically and Culturally Appropriate Clinical Practice".
For more information on this publication, please visit book website.
Mentoring our students
Are you interested in contributing to our students’ success working in the field? Our Field Education Program is always looking for field instructors and agencies. As part our undergraduate curriculum, students are required to gain field practicum experience in agencies across Canada and graduate.
If you are interested in becoming a field instructor, contact us.
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Fort Garry and Inner City Field Education Program
David Sullivan
Field Program coordinator
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Distance Delivery Field Education Program
Joan Churley
Distance Delivery Field Program coordinator
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Northern Field Education Program (Thompson, MB)
Katie Thompson
Field Program coordinator
katie.thompson@umanitoba.ca
As we are an accredited program, Field Instructors must possess a BSW, MSW or RSW with a minimum of two years' experience.
Make a difference
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Thanks to your support, our students in financial needs are given opportunities to further their education and research through awards and bursaries. If you are interested in supporting Faculty of Social Work students, make a gift to social work fellowships and bursaries.
For specific funding opportunities, select “Social Work” under the fund search.
Distinguished Guest Lecture Series
About the Workshop
The majority of disabled people are over 65 years of age and the majority of those over the age of 75 are disabled in some way. Nevertheless, despite this demographic fact, or perhaps because of it, older disabled people are rarely regarded as disabled in the same way as children or working age adults. Older people’s voices have been absent in the disability movement, and gerontological research has failed to examine the experience of disability in later life, with limited debate between later life and disability studies. In practice, there are reports of social services being ill equipped to meet the needs of disabled people in later life: disability services do not readily respond to ‘ageing matters’, while services for older people fail to respond to disability related needs or adopt medical models of disability.
This interactive workshop invites participants to reflect on their experiences of social work practice in the disability and gerontological fields, to examine the commonalities and differences in experience and need amongst those ageing with disability and those ageing into disability, and to explore how a social model of disability might support social work practice in both fields.
About Distinguished Guest Lecturer
Dr. Peter Simcock is Senior Lecturer in Social Work at Birmingham City University, United Kingdom. He has an academic background in law, social work, and gerontology, and has worked in social work education for over ten years. Prior to his academic career, Peter was a social worker, working predominantly in the physical and sensory disability field. Widely published in the field of deafblindness, he is also co-author of the Polity published text ‘Social Work and Disability’ and more recently published a chapter on disability in the text ‘Human Rights and Social Justice. Key Issues and Vulnerable Populations’ edited by Prof. Carole Cox and Prof. Tina Maschi.
Ongoing projects and events
National Forum on Education Equity for Children & Youth in Care
Child welfare and education professionals are independently and universally mandated to work in the best interests of children. Yet, despite the fact that collaboration is unequivocally endorsed as “best practice” for working with youth (Darlington & Feeney, 2008, p. 195), it has not yet emerged as an intuitive approach to practice for educators and child welfare workers, nor is it instituted in policies, practices, and structures. Given that both professions share collective responsibility for children in care, facilitating an interprofessional focus and dialogue around the needs of children in care can highlight a greater understanding of the value of working collaboratively, with a view toward improving children’s educational experiences.
The objective of this national forum is to bring together an inter-professional group of researchers, academics, and practicing practitioners to highlight current research and works in progress on the policy, practices, and programs related to educational experiences and outcomes of children in care of child welfare systems.
Please visit equityforkidsincare.net for more information and to register.
Twitter: twitter.com/EduEquityKids
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Strangers in New Homelands Conference
www.strangersconference.com
Conference chair: Dr. Michael BaffoeThis conference has run through very critical times in world migration history: the unprecedented displacement and movements of people from their homes into other countries, especially to Europe seeking safety as well as better life conditions.
This year marks the 13th edition of the Strangers in New Homelands Conference and focuses on the challenges and opportunities in world migration and settlement in the continuous era of global conflicts and post-COVID-19 global pandemic.
Presentations and workshops examine how migrants interact with potential oppressions and markers of identity such as race, gender, sexual orientation, immigration status, age, religion, language, and socioeconomic status.
Registration is now open for the upcoming conference. To register, please visit: umanitoba.ca/social-work/strangers-conference
Contact us
Faculty of Social Work
Room 521 Tier Building
173 Dafoe Rd. W
University of Manitoba (Fort Garry campus)
Winnipeg, MB R3T 2N2 Canada