Students in the Global Practice program showcased their upcoming international placements at a pre-departure celebration on campus in early December. Photo by Chris Soldt.
Grace Jenkins will spend the next five months in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, working at a nonprofit organization that provides a wide range of programs for children facing economic hardship.
As an intern at Aziza’s Place, Jenkins will work directly with kids, help strengthen partnerships with community stakeholders, and write a handbook outlining how the organization can protect children from harm, abuse, and neglect.
The placement aligns with her interest in child welfare, she said, and will serve as a steppingstone to a career focused on global human rights.
“I’m really interested in child welfare—whether that means helping organizations with child safety planning, improving policies, or doing global advocacy around children’s human rights,” said Jenkins, a student in the Advanced Standing MSW program at the Boston College School of Social Work. “I’m not exactly sure what my path will look like yet, but this feels like a good step. It gives me experience at the mezzo and macro levels, whereas so far most of my work has been in micro-level social work here in the U.S.”
She shared these reflections at BCSSW’s Global Practice pre-departure celebration on December 2 in 521 McGuinn Hall, where 11 students showcased their upcoming international placements.
In between bites of Mediterranean cuisine, Jenkins and her peers discussed their plans with more than a dozen students, faculty, and staff, explained how their placements will advance their careers, and highlighted the ways those experiences are expected to put the principles of accompaniment—a central theme of BCSSW’s academic year—into practice.
Jenkins and her classmates in the Global Practice program—one of six academic pathways that include specialized coursework and field placements—will team up with community-based organizations in nine countries around the world, from Italy to Lebanon to Sierra Leone. Instead of prescriptive solutions, they will focus on strengthening systems, building capacity, and walking alongside others in their journeys of growth and healing.
“ These experiences give students a chance to learn how to really walk with people in different countries, working with their supervisors who know the area. They become colleagues to others at the agencies where they work, forge new relationships, and develop empathy and compassion for people who may be different from where they’ve come from. ”
Reese Johnson will support mental health and psychosocial support programs with the Jesuit Refugee Services in Rome. Katie Gatza will strengthen the global social service workforce through the London-based Global Social Service Workforce Alliance, partnering with organizations like UNICEF. Nathaniel McLeroy, for his part, built his own remote placement with nonprofits in Ireland and New York, and will focus on training youth to use emerging technology while helping the organizations engage communities in shaping the tools they create.
“I think the work that I do has always been about giving people the tools to make their own decisions and be their own agents,” said McLeroy. “It’s almost like the breeding ground for accompaniment or even creates the lack of a need for accompaniment, because we’ve instilled people with the tools to be autonomous and make their own decisions.”
Jenkins, like McLeroy, said her work at Aziza’s Place will exemplify accompaniment. She will support children ages 10 through college, helping her colleagues build long-term relationships with both kids and families. She will value input from the community, consistently incorporating feedback from the people she serves. And she will work closely with leadership at the nonprofit, including former program participants.
“There’s a really strong connection between the staff and the families,” said Jenkins. “I believe in valuing the local community and understanding what that looks like in practice.”
BCSSW leaders at the event reinforced these themes, stressing the importance of approaching placements with humility and a willingness to learn rather than trying to impose solutions.
“The key is to really be modest and learn rather than to proffer solutions,” said BCSSW Dean Gautam N. Yadama.
Mary Schletzbaum, assistant director of global field education, expanded on this message, urging students to learn from local supervisors, immerse themselves in new cultures, and develop empathy through long-term relationship building.
She framed accompaniment as central to understanding global social justice and engaging across cultures.
“These experiences give students a chance to learn how to really walk with people in different countries, working with their supervisors who know the area,” said Schletzbaum. “They become colleagues to others at the agencies where they work, forge new relationships, and develop empathy and compassion for people who may be different from where they’ve come from.”