Presented by the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work’s Alumni Council, the Alumni Speaker series is a way to highlight alums and allow them to share their experiences in the program and throughout their career. Our current series aims to highlight alums in non-traditional roles and it is our hope that it acts as a reminder and motivator to our students and fellow alumni of all the incredible possibilities that exist for social workers.
The Alumni Council’s mission is to serve as a bridge between the school and the social work community and is actively committed to connecting and engaging current students, alumni, and faculty. If you’re interesting in learning more about joining the Alumni Council or being a speaker in this series, please email Riley Belden-England at RIB101@pitt.edu.
Alumni Speakers
On Wednesday, March 27, 2024, Katherine Marshall joined us to kick of this series. Katherine graduated from the School of Social Work in April 2020, obtained her LSW later that year, and achieved her goal of becoming a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in 2023. Katherine has held various roles in mental health settings, her favorite of which being a child and family therapist for 2 years. In the fall of 2023, Katherine decided to pursue Travel Social Work. She currently travels the country providing empathetic care to patients and families in hospital settings. Katherine embodies both compassion and determination in the effort to continually move the Social Work profession forward for the benefit of fellow changemakers and our communities as a whole. Notably, Katherine is an advocate for creating a new narrative: Social workers are indeed able to serve, affirm, sit with, advocate for, empower, and provide unconditional positive regard – all while achieving limitless financial goals and creating a legacy of generational prosperity for themselves and their families. Katherine Marshall is a dreamer, a visionary, a fellow friend, and a lover of all things faith, family, and fun.
September 28, 2022
Jessika Lopez graduated from the School of Social Work with her Master of Social Work degree in 2016. As part of her studies for the Community, Organization and Social Action (or COSA) specialization, she focused on housing and community development. Her internships were with East Liberty Development, Inc. and the Hill Community Development Corporation. There, she was able to focus on the overall community economic development for historically disinvested neighborhoods of color. Before Pitt, Jessika received her Bachelors in Sociology from San Francisco State in 2010 and worked in local nonprofits in the Bay Area. After graduating from Pitt in 2016, Jessika moved to work on Prosperity Now’s Racial Wealth Divide Initiative team in Washington, DC. Here she worked across multiple cities to support nonprofit leaders of color who were well-positioned to help narrow the racial wealth gap in their communities. Jessika then moved back home to Oakland, CA, in 2019, where she worked at a local community development financial institution as a program manager supporting African American entrepreneurship in Oakland. She primarily managed the Entrepreneur-In-Residence program (a 6-month accelerator) along with other special projects; including a local qualitative study of black entrepreneurs. Before the pandemic, Jessika’s father had a serious health scare (He’s ok now!) which caused her to become more involved with her 30-year-old family business, El Lucero Market in Lodi, CA. El Lucero is a small Latino market, bakery, and deli.
After learning more about the business, Jessika took the time to reflect and discuss succession planning with her parents and, in early 2021, decided to leave the nonprofit sector all-together to scale her family business. In July 2021, Jessika received a certificate from the Latino Entrepreneurship Scaling program through Stanford’s Graduate School of Business. Jessika hopes to open 2-3 new El Lucero locations over the next 5 years, as well as continue El Lucero’s legacy of creating safe spaces for the Latino community, especially for undocumented farmworkers.
May 26, 2022
Aerion Abney was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 2022 to represent the 19th Legislative District. A Philadelphia native, Abney moved to Pittsburgh at the age of 18 to attend the University of Pittsburgh, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in communications and a master’s degree in social work.
As a former program officer with the POISE Foundation, a grantmaking institution aimed at empowering Black people across the Pittsburgh region, Abney is well-versed in recognizing community needs and securing funds to address them. He approved more than $1.7 million in grants to local nonprofit organizations in this role.
Prior to his election, he served as the Pennsylvania director of special projects for All Voting Is Local, a national organization fighting to remove discriminatory barriers at the ballot box. In this position, he was a fierce advocate for the expansion of voting rights, especially for incarcerated Pennsylvanians.
Abney has been heavily involved in the local community, previously serving as a committeeman for the 21st Ward, 4th District, and currently sitting on the boards of the Hill District Federal Credit Union, the Human Services Center Corporation, and the advisory board of the African American Achievement Trust Collective Focus.
He is also a member of the My Brother’s Keeper taskforce in the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, and Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity Inc.
March 22, 2022
Jessica Gurley is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and therapist with over a decade of mental health experience. Jessica is the Owner of Social Work Consulting and Counseling LLC, or SWCC, which provides therapy, supervision, and consulting services for both individuals and organizations. Through SWCC alone, Jessica has presented to several universities, small and large size businesses, and non-profit organizations around the world.
In 2019 she was awarded the Who’s Next award by The Incline, a Pittsburgh daily newsletter. The award recognized up and coming first responders and mental health professionals in Pittsburgh. Jessica has also been featured in Soul Pitt Magazine, Helpful Living Magazine, and New Pittsburgh Courier, as well as on KDKA’s Lynne Hayes-Freeland show and across WAMO’s multimedia platforms.
Last but certainly not least, Jessica recently embarked on a new journey to normalize therapy and reduce stigma and the suicide rate by creating a mental health T-shirt line that has been very successful worldwide. The T-shirt line, and its matching merchandise such as mugs, laptop covers, and hats, promote positive and influential messages to help easily start the conversation about mental health.
In a nutshell, Jessica’s and SWCC’s mission is to H.E.L.P.: Heal, Enlighten, Liberate, and Plan with every person she serves.
November 16, 2021
Cami (Needle) Teacoach graduated from Pitt in 2014 with a Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health programs. After graduating, Cami worked as an outpatient therapist and a therapeutic preschool program coordinator before stepping away from full time work when her older son was six months old. During the pandemic, she got the idea for VolunTOTS, an organization that would focus on volunteer experiences for children ages three through kindergarten. After seeing the success that VolunTOTS enjoyed, Cami started VolunTYKES for kids in grades one through five.
VolunTOTS has been featured on WPXI, KDKA, Kidsburgh, and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and this past weekend the tots and tykes packed 200 Thanksgiving food boxes to benefit the Lighthouse Foundation.
September 23, 2021
Johnnie received his Master’s degree from Pitt Social Work, along with a certificate in Children, Youth & Families in 2013. He is now a gifted Licensed Social Worker. Johnnie works as a Mental Health Therapist for Familylinks, Inc., under the Therapeutic Classroom Model program, and for Hand In Hand Counseling Services, LLC.
Johnnie’s personality and passion for helping others makes him go above and beyond to help the clients under his care. Johnnie takes a stand to help others outside of his work environment by participating in different speaking engagements and through his work of “JG Mental Health Fridays,” which are video segments that he does on social media and YouTube, discussing topics that affect everyone and providing coping exercises for individuals to practice in their own time.
Johnnie is a member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Inc. With his fraternity, he holds different leadership positions and engages with the community. He has received numerous honors for his work in the profession as well as with his fraternity.
May 25, 2021
Julius serves as the Founder and Chief Executive Officer with Steel Smiling. They bridge the gap between Black people and mental health support through education, advocacy, and awareness. Their service efforts have been featured on media platforms such as NBC, NPR, Black Enterprise, and TEDxPittsburgh.
Julius is a Licensed Social Worker who completed a Trauma-Informed Community Practice Workshop with Duquesne University through their Department of Psychology and Rita McGinley Clinic. He received two degrees from Pitt: a bachelor’s degree in Communication and a master’s degree in social work with a certificate in human services management.
Julius has received several awards for his work through Steel Smiling, including: Mental Health America Social Work Award, Black Enterprise Modern Man of Distinction, NAACP [Pittsburgh Branch] Young Person of the Year and one of Pittsburgh Magazine/PUMP 40 Under 40 awards in 2017. He is also one of Pitt Social Work’s past Distinguished Alumni Award recipients, receiving one of the Rising Star Awards in 2017.
March 23, 2021
Jody Bechtold is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, International Certified Gambling Counselor-II and Board Approved Clinical Consultant in the international gambling treatment field. She is the co-founder and CEO of The Better Institute, a private practice that offers counseling, coaching, and consulting services located in Pittsburgh. Ms. Bechtold serves on the International Gambling Counselor Certification Board and National Council on Problem Gambling’s board of directors. She also serves on the advisory board of Gamban, a gambling blocking software used worldwide. In addition to previously teaching as an adjunct professor in Pitt Social Work, Ms. Bechtold has conducted numerous trainings and workshops for the school’s Continuing Education program, training more than 200 clinicians in the region in the treatment of problem gambling. Ms. Bechtold also received the 2020 Distinguished Alumni Award for Social Work Practice from the School of Social Work.
Rob Bumbaco is a licensed clinical social worker and certified mental coach. In his career, Mr. Bumbaco has worked as both a counselor and supervisor in programs that helped treat individuals who were dealing with substance abuse and mental illness. He has additional experience in men’s recovery related issues. He specializes in cognitive behavioral therapy and motivational interviewing. Mr. Bumbaco is the co-founder and COO at The Better Institute, where he continues to work with adolescents and adults who are dealing with mental health and addiction related issues. In addition to his clinical background, he is a former Division 1 athlete. And Mr. Bumbaco is the founder of Back in the Game, a sports performance program designed to help athletes develop the mental skills necessary to take their game to the next level. He provides coaching sessions to teams and private lessons to individual athletes based on these core skills.
January 26, 2021
Dan’Talisha Deans is an influential leader whose personal motto in life is to be impact-driven in all she does. She has extensive experience in leadership, project and people management, employee engagement, workforce development, performance management, and strategic planning. She is a change agent who conceptualizes innovative ideas and utilizes continuous process improvement as a tool to add value and build capacity in the workplace and communities. She has a heart for people and is very passionate about seeing them grow and excel. She is dedicated to using her professional and personal skills to build potential in individuals, organizations, communities, and ultimately this nation. Dan’Talisha has over 10 years of experience in public service. She is former Leadership Development Team Director for the White House Presidential Personnel Office under the Obama Administration, former Management Analyst, Employee Engagement Lead, and Presidential Management Fellow at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and former intern for both the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Department of Energy. She has also worked in higher education as the first Research Coordinator in the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Social Work Center on Race and Social Problems where she published research work, Pittsburgh’s Racial Demographics 2015: Differences and Disparities. Dan’Talisha also understands the importance of working in community; as she is currently the Development Director at BEST Kids, Incorporated, which is a nonprofit organization serving DC youth in foster care. She formerly worked for a nonprofit in Pittsburgh called Homewood Children’s Village where she created and managed programs for teen parents. Ultimately, Dan’Talisha is committed to the overall well being of people. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work from Alabama Agricultural & Mechanical University and a Master’s degree in Social Work with a concentration in Community Organizing and Social Administration—now known as Community, Organization and Social Action— from Pitt. She also earned a certificate in Human Services Management.