Social worker Connie Kaweesi was awarded the Bridget Moran Award in March 2009, honouring her long-standing social work career, her contributions to the profession, the community, and research within a northern setting.
The Bridget Moran Award from the British Columbia Association of Social Workers Northern Branch commemorates the values and contributions of the late Bridget Moran, a social worker who committed her life to working for social justice. Connie demonstrates this same commitment.
Connie completed her BSW in the early 1990s and her MSW degree at the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) in 2000. For the past 20 years she has contributed much to the profession and to her northern British Columbia community. She has worked in child welfare, in Native family services, and in youth and adult forensics. She taught as a sessional instructor at the College of New Caledonia (1993-1997) and continues to teach at the UNBC School of Social Work. Since 2001 Connie has been an instructor in the Social Services Worker Program at Northern Lights College in Fort St. John and she has been the Chair of Academic and Career Technology Programs since 2005.
Connie’s commitment to the profession and its values of social justice extend beyond her work and teaching. Within the community Connie is respected as an activist and researcher. She is active in provincial and federal politics and has been very involved in local community activities that promote social justice.
Connie has co-authored studies on women’s health and employability and has had many opportunities to present and share her findings. She hopes to pursue further research on precarious employment in northern communities within the context of globalization. Currently, Connie is helping develop a community-based health organization in north eastern British Columbia. The value of a professional association is evident to Connie, who promotes and organizes activities and events on behalf of the BCASW Northern Branch. Connie sees the professional association as a voice for social workers; in a profession that is so demanding, she says, membership in the association helps her feel connected to peers and to the profession as a whole.
From a young age, Connie wanted to be involved in humanitarian work, and this drive led her to the social work profession. She believes she is following this wish, but differently than she had imagined as a child. Connie sees the joys and challenges in northern communities and strives for the values of social justice. She always encourages her students to keep the bigger picture in mind and to maintain the profession’s strong connection to social justice. Connie describes her career as a journey and believes that, as the journey progresses, she has a deeper understanding of what she is doing and what it means to the people with whom she works. She hopes others can share this experience.