The NASWS Virginia Chapter recognized three 2024 Annual Award recipients for professional and academic excellence—a social worker, social work student, and state senator—March 22 during its 2024 Annual Conference in Norfolk, Va. 

The Lifetime Achievement in Social Work Award is the chapter’s highest individual honor for a social work practitioner who has demonstrated a career-long commitment to strict ethics and the social work profession, as well as to outstanding professional performance and voluntary leadership: 

Recipient: Kathy Murphy-Stephenson, LCSW, retired, Salem, Va.

The Bachelor of Social Work Student of the Year Award recognizes exemplary academic performance and leadership by a BSW student: 

Recipient: Brianna Allen, BSW, of Eastern Mennonite University

The Legislator of the Year Award honors a Virginia policy maker whose dedication and leadership has advanced the social work profession, its practitioners, and their clients:

Recipient: Honorable Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Senate District 15) 

“Social Work Month in March offers the perfect time for the NASW Virginia Chapter to honor our outstanding professionals, students, and allies for their often-unsung heroism and excellence in advancing the social work profession,” says Executive Director Debra Riggs, CAE. “We applaud each of these award recipients and encourage all Virginians to support the vital behavioral and mental health work of every social worker.”

The call for 2025 Annual Award nominations will open later this fall.