Dr. Rolanda Ward, endowed faculty director of Niagara University’s Rose Bente Lee Ostapenko Center and chair of the social work department, presented the opening keynote, “Diamond-Strong: 60 Years of School Social Work Service Through a Diversity Lens,” at the New York State School Social Workers’ Association 60th Annual Conference in Canandaigua, N.Y., on Nov. 6, 2025. Approximately 240 school social workers from across New York state attended the event.
Dr. Ward holds a doctorate in social work and sociology, a master’s of divinity, and a master’s in social work from Boston University. She also earned an advanced graduate certificate in public health from the University at Buffalo.
As a macro-trained practitioner and a research scholar, she has been the lead investigator or research associate on several studies focusing on society’s most vulnerable, underserved, proven-risk, and oppressed populations and communities. She has developed macro school-based interventions to address educational disparities. She is the vice president of the NASW-New York State Chapter and serves on numerous local and state boards.
