Leadership Development in Anti-Violence Work: The Susan Schechter Social Action Seminar
Susan Schechter brought vision, compassion and vast intellect to the pursuit of ending violence against women and children, and was among the first to seed what has become a worldwide movement. Since 2004, the Susan Schechter Leadership Development Fellowship has honored Susan and advanced the work she cared about by supporting four Fellows.
In collaboration with Simmons College School of Social Work, the Family Violence Prevention Fund is pleased to announce the expansion of the Susan Schechter Leadership Development program to now include a new course titled, Leadership Development in Anti-Violence Work: The Susan Schechter Social Action Seminar. This groundbreaking social action seminar was offered in January 2009 as a three credit elective course at Simmons College’s School of Social Work in Boston, MA. The class brought together 14 students of various disciplines to: learn about Susan’s innovative work, to develop their own voice, ask new questions and test their leadership skills. Over the semester students delved into emerging questions in the field of violence against women and children and the connection to topics such as youth organizing, reproductive health, substance abuse, homelessness, the faith based community, and many others. The course culminated in a poster session presentation where the students presented their action plans and the process they went through in developing their project.
In the summer of 2009, the FVPF and Simmons College School of Social Work will be refining and producing the curriculum and related materials for national dissemination. The course will also be offered again at Simmons next year.
For more information about the Susan Schechter Social Action Seminar please email fellowship@endabuse.org
