The 2024 BUSSW Alumni Association Awards Celebrates Five Community Members: Photo Gallery

Boston University School of Social Work (BUSSW) honored five members of the school community on Saturday, September 28 at the 2024 Alumni Association Awards, held during BU Alumni Weekend at the BU Photonics Center. The event featured guest speaker Marylou Sudders (SSW’78), former Mass. secretary of Health and Human Services and chair of BUSSW’s Dean’s Advisory Board.

The BUSSW Alumni Association Awards recognize the extraordinary contributions made by alumni, faculty and staff to the school, field, and community.

The 2024 Award Winners

BUSSW Emerging Professional Award
Amanda McGerigle (SSW’15)

A psychotherapist in private practice, Amanda McGerigle, utilizes trauma informed practices for individuals, couples, adults, and teens. Previously, she worked as an embedded mental health therapist for patients as part of office-based addiction treatment programs at Indian Stream Health Center and Duffy Health Center, utilizing an integrated model of care by providing a team approach that is patient-centered. Trained as an EMDR clinician, she is also certified in Perinatal mental health and has an LDAC (licensed alcohol and drug counselor) license.

The Ken Schulman BUSSW Spirit Award
Madi Wachman (SSW’14)

Madi Wachman is director of Parent, Child, and Family Policy at MassHealth, Massachusetts’ state Medicaid agency, which covers roughly 40% of children and 40% of births in the Commonwealth. In her role, she leads policy and programmatic efforts across MassHealth focused on improving the health and well-being of children, families, and birthing people. Before MassHealth, Madi was the assistant director for the Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health (CISWH) at BUSSW. Previously, she worked with youth and families in various clinical settings, including schools, hospitals, and residential treatment facilities.

Hubie Jones Urban Service Award
Jackie Borne (SSW’00)

Jackie Savage-Borne is the senior program manager of Violence Intervention and Prevention Programs at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. She leads the Passageway Program, where she provides services to survivors of domestic violence since 1999, and currently supervises, trains, and clinically oversees a staff of social workers, as well as directing the program’s graduate internship program. She has been an adjunct faculty member at Simmons School of Social Work faculty since 2017, where she teaches courses in clinical social work practice and domestic violence and family welfare and is a faculty member at the Trauma Imaging and Research Innovation Center.

Outstanding Contributions to the School of Social Work
Cynthia Bramble-Daley (SSW’85)

Cynthia Bramble-Daley is the student services administrator for BUSSW’s Online MSW program. Among her many responsibilities she serves as the academic integrity representative; advises students on school policies and procedures, program plans, academic advising, student services and graduation requirements; coordinates all components of the OLP graduation review process; provides consultation to teaching teams to address student concerns/issues, and collaborates on the planning and presentation of licensing & career seminars and exam prep workshops. She established the Student Services Administrator (SSA) Collaborative Group, is a mentor for BIPOC and first-gen students, a member of the BUSSW Equity & Inclusion Committee, and established the Conversations on Race speaker series.

Outstanding Career in Social Work
Danielle Ferrier (SSW’99)

Danielle Ferrier is CEO of Heading Home, an agency that provides emergency, transitional and permanent housing, and support services to extremely low-income homeless and formerly homeless children and adults. She has more than 25 years of experience in the human services industry and holds two master’s degrees: an MBA from Simmons School of Management and MSW from BUSSW. Before joining the Heading Home team in July 2017, she was the deputy commissioner for Clinical Services & Program Operations at the Department of Children & Families. Prior to heading Home, Danielle developed an innovative program, Youth Harbors, which is based in high schools and designed to prevent unaccompanied high school students from becoming homeless or to rapidly house these youth when they are experiencing homelessness. As a practicing clinical therapist for 15 years, her training and primary practice were with “high-risk” children, youth, and families with a clinical specialty in trauma and attachment. Danielle has served on many task forces designed to evaluate and address the issues facing homeless, unaccompanied youth, and youth involved in state care.