MSW alumnus Jam Hammond (’19 SOCWK and GSPIA) was recently named president of Pittsburgh's Commission on Human Relations. The commission, established by city ordinance in 1955, investigates complaints of alleged discrimination in employment, housing and public accommodations within the city.
Hammond, who has undergraduate degrees in Psychology and American Sign Language, always knew he wanted to work in support services. “I was looking for the next thing to focus my career and I knew if I picked social work it would be macro practice and not micro,” said Hammond. “I always was macro-focused and had an interest in how to improve systems and increase navigational success for average citizens.”
Hammond knew Pitt School of Social Work’s Community, Organization, and Social Action (COSA) program, the country’s oldest community organizing program, was a good fit especially with the joint degree option with the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs (GSPIA) which he saw as “very public-sector focused.”
Both programs really helped Hammond understand the landscape of Pittsburgh, which he felt could be a challenge for a non-native Pittsburgher. “Both programs are well rooted in the community,” explains Hammond. “And make sure students understand how systems evolved, and how what we see today is what people have experienced across many generations.”
Classes, like those taught by Professor Danny Rosen and Associate Professor Mary Ohmer, “taught us to look at the whole environment. We would do a community drive-through; go through a whole neighborhood and look around, even using Google Time Capsule to see how they look different.”
After field placement with the Allegheny County Department of Human Services and Children, Youth, and Families, he started with the City of Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations in 2019 as an intake and outreach coordinator. Now after two years, he is leading the way on the Commission’s work which focuses on several areas including: law enforcement/civil right enforcement, housing rights, American Disability Act (ADA) accommodations, and the enforcement of civil rights. The Commission also prioritizes outreach, making sure people know what their rights are, and interacting with the communities to help better serve them.
Like many organizations, the COVID-19 pandemic brought a whole host of challenges for the Commission. However, Hammond explains they were quick to adapt, and now offer online options such as webinars about fair housing law for tenants and landlords, as well as home buying professionals, lenders, insurers, and providers of housing (nonprofit residential housing providers).
The Commission also offers an online series about supporting gender diversity to “help people understand one another so that we have to do less enforcement.”
What’s ahead for Hammond? He foresees an increase of reporting about employers who will not allow employees to work from home. In the meantime, the Commission will continue to work with the community, as well as other City departments, to educate Pittsburghers about their rights and to help enforce them.