PEWL's Academy for Community Behavioral Health Launches New Residency Program

The Academy for Community Behavioral Health at the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) proudly announces a new residency program to help reduce the distance between promising behavioral health approaches and their implementation in the city's communities.

Dr. Anna Ortega-Williams (pictured above), director of the Bachelor of Social Work program and assistant professor at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College, is the inaugural resident in the Academy’s Innovation Residency (AIR): Changing Discourse and Practice.

"We seek New York City leaders who expand our sense of what is possible in community behavioral health," said Academy Program Director Elise Tosatti. "Dr. Ortega-Williams holds a light not only to more nuanced and accurate descriptions of the ways racism and discrimination cause harm, but also to the vital wisdom, creativity, care, imagination, and agency that the communities who experience these harms hold.”

“She invites us to see and create possibilities for growth and healing in the face of historic trauma and ongoing systemic violence," Tosatti added. "Her research, teaching, and practice—grounded in personal experience, community stories, and her commitment to those she serves —dissolve artificial boundaries between individual and collective healing and point a way.”    

Launched in June 2021, the Academy is run by the CUNY SPS Office of Professional Education and Workplace Learning (PEWL), with funding from the Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health (OCMH) and Mayor’s Office for Economic Opportunity (NYC Opportunity).

The Academy’s residency program has three components designed to shift dialogues and improve community behavioral health practice. Residents will curate a series of public conversations, support innovation in Academy programs, and pilot a new or improved community care model that transforms access to compassionate, culturally responsive care.

As the inaugural resident, Dr. Ortega-Williams will partner with the Academy and others to expand possibilities for trauma recovery and healing. She will organize public conversations on Transforming the Trauma Discourse, starting in December 2023. She also acts as a senior advisor to the Academy’s Trauma-Informed Organizational Practice pilot, leading a co-design strategy and teaching from her work on historic trauma and posttraumatic growth.

The Academy collaborates with Dr. Ortega-Williams in her role as the principal investigator of the NYC Land-Based Healing Project. Funded by a CUNY Interdisciplinary Research Grant and with support from the Academy, Dr. Ortega-Williams leads a multi-disciplinary, community-based research team to understand how urban farms and gardens support well-being among Black youth and youth of color in the context of historic trauma and structural racism. As part of the research team, the Academy will help with pilot implementation, disseminating key findings, and promoting implementation of research into practice.

“We are grateful for Dr. Ortega-Williams’ partnership and the many ways she strengthens the Academy’s work to build more equitable and effective care systems,” Tosatti said. “Please join us in celebrating her.”

About the CUNY School of Professional Studies

As New York's leading online school since 2006, the CUNY School of Professional Studies (CUNY SPS) offers the most online bachelor's and master's degree options at the City University of New York, and serves as the University's first undergraduate all-transfer college. With 26 degrees and numerous other non-degree and grant-funded workplace learning programs, CUNY SPS meets the needs of adults who wish to finish a bachelor's degree, progress from an associate's degree, earn a master's degree or certificate in a specialized field, and advance in the workplace or change careers. Consistently ranked highly by U.S. News & World Report for its online offerings, CUNY SPS has emerged as a nationwide leader in online education. The School's renowned and affordable online programs ensure that busy working adults may fulfill their educational goals on their own time and schedule.

Press Contact
Andrea Fagon
Chief Marketing and Communications Officer
andrea.fagon@cuny.edu