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Current ACOSA Awards Recipients

ACOSA is pleased to announce our 2024 Award Recipients – all of whom reflect the strength and scope of community practice. 

Many thanks to the Awards Committee: Stephen Monroe Tomczak (Chair), Phil McCallion, Deb Adams, Josh Lown, and Samantha Teixeira.



Career Achievement Award

This award honors the lifetime contribution of a person in the field who has made major contributions to the conceptual definition of community practice, the empirical knowledge base of the discipline, and significant development of practice methods.

Recipient: Darlyne Bailey, Bryn Mawr College
Emeritus Professor and Dean, Graduate School of Social Work & Social Research

Nominators: Monica Leisey, Salem State University, Diane Bessel, Daemen University, & Kristi Lohmeier, St. Ambrose University

Throughout her distinguished career, Dr. Bailey has consistently advanced the conceptual framework of macro-direct practice, deepened the empirical knowledge base, and innovated new methods that have had a lasting impact on the field. Her thought leadership has not only shaped academic discourse but has also directly influenced generations of macro-direct practice professionals worldwide.

Dr. Bailey has long been at the forefront of macro-direct practice, developing innovative frameworks that emphasize empowerment, justice, and collaboration. As co-founder and co-leader of the Special Commission to Advance Macro Practice in Social Work and co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Macro Social Work, she has expanded the definition of macro-direct practice to encompass broader dimensions of leadership, justice, and collaboration. She has also extended its reach through various campaigns to increase awareness and consideration of macro-direct practice within professional accreditation standards, labor department definitions, and social work licensure.

Furthermore, Dr. Bailey’s work as a mentor and educator has nurtured a new generation of macro-direct practice leaders, ensuring that her legacy of innovation and empowerment will continue to influence the field for years to come. Even as she enters “retirement,” she continues to support the development of emerging practitioners and academicians.



Mid-Career Achievement Award

This award highlights the accomplishments of a meritorious mid-career scholar. The award is open to tenured and non-tenure track faculty or directors with at least seven years of service.


Recipient: Rebecca Matthew, University of Georgia
Associate Professor, School of Social Work

Nominators: Amie Thurber, Portland State University

Dr. Matthew’s scholarship and practice broadly seek to advance community health and well-being through contributing to innovations in: cooperatives and alternative economies, community-based participatory research and practice, environmental justice, housing, and youth development. A key focus of Dr. Matthew’s work has been bridging the socio-cultural, linguistic gap in health care access and outcomes among low-income, immigrant, Latinx families. She has pursued this through building long-term community-engaged research and practice partnerships.

Community practice, social change, and collective action are the foci of Dr. Matthew’s teaching; she consistently teaches courses at the BSW and MSW level related to community assessment and practice, community organizing, critical social theory and environmental justice. She is also deeply committed to mentoring students in research, scholarship, and social work education.



Emerging Scholar Award

This award honors the contribution of a person in the field who has demonstrated outstanding scholarly potential in an area of community practice.


Recipient: Shanondora Billiot, Arizona State University
Assistant Professor, School of Social Work

Nominator: Cheryl Hyde, Temple University

Dr. Billiot’s scholarship centers on two main foci: environmental justice and the health and well-being of indigenous people. Her work pushes us to reconsider commonly held models of community practice and in this way, innovates our discipline. 

A central component of her scholarship is that it be collaborative and community-centered so that the lived experiences of individuals and communities, often marginalized and neglected, take center stage.   This approach to scholarship takes considerable time to build the necessary relational trust and respect, but the impact extends well beyond the usual academic metrics of journal publications. 

Dr. Billiot teaches courses on social policy, macro practice, and indigenous social work and environmental justice. She has mentored several undergraduate and graduate students, including serving as dissertation committee members and chair. 

Dr. Billiot is a leader in the re-centering of social work from mainstream (western) thought to indigenous perspectives and in advocating for greater attention to environmental justice. She combines an agile intellect with a passion for social justice.




Outstanding Doctoral Student Award

This award honors a current doctoral student who is doing meritorious scholarship in the field of community practice.
Recipient: Irene Routté, University of Michigan
PhD Candidate, Social Work/Anthropology

Nominator: Odessa Gonzalez Benson, University of Michigan

Social change and collective action are deeply fundamental to Irene’s research, as well as service/practice and teaching. Irene excels as an emerging scholar, engaging with complex, critical ideas and innovative in terms of methodology, as detailed below. Importantly, Irene’s research cuts deep into pressing social and political issues, and she does this by drawing from personal and professional experiences and steadfast towards equity and social justice. Irene is also a great community practice educator, as instructor of graduate level community practice courses. Beyond research and teaching, Irene dedicates much of her time and efforts as a leader of social change and in community engagement.

For her research, Irene is interested in how belonging / attachments to place constitute socioemotional wellbeing (identity formation, sense of agency, connection to social groups) for those with experiences of forced migration, specifically African diasporic youth. Further, Irene is excavating what it means to have a right to feel as if one belongs, at this time of socio-political upheaval in the United States.



Outstanding Student Award

This award honors a BSW or MSW student or group of students who is doing outstanding community practice.

Recipient: Taylor Vander Laan, Michigan State University
MSW Student

Nominator: Kelley Blanck, Michigan State University

Mr. Vander Laan has shown that his heart and passion is in macro social work, with specific interest in political campaign and activism. Mr. Vander Laan has also conducted outreach and relationship building with legislators in his home area, connecting social work with political causes. He is an exemplary student, with drive, tenacity and passion to excel. He has a passion for political social work and activism, and recognizes the challenges presented by identifying them and creating plans for busting barriers.




Outstanding Practitioner Award

This award recognizes a practitioner who has made a significant contribution to a community in an innovative and impactful way.

Recipient: Jillian Bauer-Reese, Kensington Voice, Philadelphia
Executive Director & Editor

Jillian Bauer-Reese is the founder and leader of the Kensington Voice, a community hub and newsroom that pairs direct services with journalism to improve the quality of life in one of Philadelphia’s most stigmatized neighborhoods. The unique model created there has disrupted traditionally extractive journalistic practices by balancing what journalists give and take from communities.

Since 2018, Kensington Voice’s newsroom and its many outputs have become a vital resource for a community grappling with complex social and health challenges. By focusing on inclusive, community-centered journalism, we have successfully bridged information gaps, particularly in areas with low internet access and high rates of non-English speakers.




The Marie O. Weil Outstanding Scholarship Award

This award recognizes outstanding scholarship published in the Journal of Community Practice during the previous volume year. Authors are selected for their contribution to the field, scholarly approach, and/or promotion of macro practice values. Taylor and Francis, the journal publisher, co-sponsors this award.

Best Article in the Journal of Community Practice, Volume 31 (2023)

Presented to: Richard Smith, Camille Wilson, Paulina Fraser, Margaret O’Connell Hanna, & Jasahn Larosa for their article: Anti-racist research practice partnerships as critical education: Dismantling the master’s house with their own tools?” (Vol. 31, Nos. 3-4). https://doi.org/10.1080/10705422.2023.2272151

Thanks to the Marie Weil Award Committee: Odessa Gonzalez Benson, Katherine Carter, and Blanca Alvarado.



View 2023 Award Recipients

View 2022 Award Recipients

View 2021 Award Recipients

View 2020 Award Recipients

Past Award Recipients (2019 and earlier)