The Social Workers Radio Talk Show

UAlbany News Story: Q&A with Cheng Ren: Leveraging AI to Advance Housing Justice

https://www.albany.edu/news-center/news/2025-qa-cheng-ren-leveraging-ai-advance-housing-justice 

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In this episode, we speak with Jennifer Harvey '12. While at UAlbany, Jen was in the Internships in Aging Project (IAP) and her passion for working with the aging population has only grown since. Jen discusses what led her to social work and the many projects that she is currently involved in (hint: they all have to do with aging!). 

Bio

Jennifer joined Touching Hearts at Home of the Capital District in 2020 and became a co- owner in 2022. She brings over thirteen years of experience in geriatric social work, all in the Capital Region. Jennifer has a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary/Special Education from The College of Saint Rose, and a Master's Degree in Social Work (MSW) from The University at Albany. She is also a Certified Dementia Practitioner (CDP) and brings years of experience supporting individuals living with dementia and their families. In 2020, Jennifer founded the Senior Networking Resource Group (SNRG) as a way to keep area professionals connected throughout the pandemic. Four years later, it is a powerful network of aging services providers spanning the Capital District. Jennifer is an annual participant in the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, captaining her company’s team each year. Jennifer is co-chair of the Capital Region Caregiver Coalition. In 2023, Jennifer became a member of the Board of Directors for LifePath in Albany, NY.

"How do we take care of the people who take care of the people."

We were able to chat with Sharon Kollar, LMSW '06 about her 20+ years of experience in non-profit and public child welfare organizations. Much of Sharon's work has focused on helping child welfare organizations create systems and environments that allow them to do great work. Sharon continues to use her macro and micro practice skills to help organizations improve their practice with children and families. 

Bio:

Sharon Kollar ’06 is a social worker with over 20 years of experience in non-profit and public child welfare organizations. She joined Mathematica in September 2024 to serve as Associate Director for the National Child Welfare Center for Innovation and Advancement. For 16 years, Sharon led information-sharing networks, knowledge management, and dissemination efforts for the National Child Welfare Workforce Institute (NCWWI). Her career has included monitoring, evaluating, and facilitating practice improvement efforts in public child welfare programs and providing direct services to adults, children, youth, and families. Her research includes child welfare workforce turnover, worker safety, and peer networking. Sharon has taught BSW and MSW Macro practice courses as an adjunct and served as an MSW field instructor for the University at Albany School of Social Welfare. As an independent consultant, she developed written products, facilitated workshops, connected jurisdictions with innovative practices, and created and implemented training curricula.

Jordan Steven Sher '81 is the author of four books, three of which focus on Bosnia. His latest two books are non-fiction and historical fiction delving into the war in the 1990s that produced war crimes and genocide. His new book is his first for Young Adults. He knows, however, that this will appeal to all ages. Jordan uses his social work background to grade his characters. Find out more at jordanstevensher.com. 

Today we chat with the leadership team of the new College of Integrated Health Sciences (CIHS) at UAlbany. Erin Bell, a professor of epidemiology, biostatistics and environmental health, was named dean of CIHS, which encompasses the former School of Public Health and the School of Social Welfare. Victoria Rizzo is the senior vice dean of CIHS and the director of the School of Social Welfare.

In this episode we speak with Anne Bink, MSW '04, about her work in the disaster response area. 

Since June, Anne Bink has served as Director of Mitigation and Resilience at Innovative Emergency Management, or IEM, where she collaborates with state, tribal, territorial and local governments to build resilience in infrastructure and communities before and after disasters.

From 2021 through May 2024, Ms. Bink served as the Associate Administrator of Response and Recovery at FEMA, where she led a team of 12,000 to deliver national response and recovery operations in an increasingly complex risk landscape. She oversaw a $200 billion portfolio of disaster recovery grants, including Public Assistance and Individual Assistance grant programs. Some highlights include:

• Leading complex and high-profile response and recovery operations, including Hurricane Ian, a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane in 2022, and Typhoon Mawar, a Category 4 Pacific typhoon in 2023, in a highly effective and collaborative manner;
• Managing an unprecedented pace of disasters – approximately one declaration every three days in CY 2023 alone – while evolving our policies and practices in alignment and coordination with state, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) partners to ensure integrated response and recovery operations;
• Developing and implementing the Individual Assistance Equity Interim Final Rule;
• Modernizing the Individual Assistance registration process;
• Implementing Enhanced Applicant Services for Individual Assistance, resulting in over 250,000 outreach calls and over $60 million in additional assistance provided as of October 2023;
• Leveraging technology, including Artificial Intelligence, for response and recovery operations to enhance situational awareness, and expedite assistance to survivors and communities;
• Advancing culture change within ORR through structural and process changes to maximize eligibility within FEMA authorities to expedite resilient recovery, with a focus on 406 mitigation; and,
• Driving federal interagency, SLTT, and cross-sector collaboration, including a pre-disaster housing planning pilot, in coordination with HUD across four states.

As Deputy Commissioner for Disaster Recovery for New York State from 2018 through 2021, Anne Bink oversaw a portfolio of over $20 billion in active disasters. During her tenure, she secured six Major Disaster Declarations and led New York’s legacy disaster closeout effort, resulting in the closure of approximately 8,000 projects and nine disasters.  

Under her leadership, New York State received the first Major Disaster Declaration for a pandemic event (COVID-19).  Ms. Bink collaborated closely with FEMA to enhance existing guidance and policies under the Public Assistance and Individual Assistance programs throughout the pandemic, helping New Yorkers and the communities in which they reside recover.  Ms. Bink also led New York State's development of new virtual outreach and educational methods under the Public Assistance Program, ensuring all eligible applicants had access to available assistance given the everchanging nature of the disaster and evolving eligibility criteria.

Ms. Bink oversaw the development of major wastewater system resiliency projects through the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, including their complex financing structure of multiple federal, state and local funding streams.  Two such projects, the Bay Park Conveyance Project and the Suffolk County Coastal Resiliency Initiative, will reduce nitrogen along Long Island’s shoreline and protect against storm surge in extreme weather events.

Ms. Bink first joined the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services (DHSES) in 2016 and served as the Deputy Commissioner of Administration and Finance prior to her work in Disaster Recovery programs.  In her role in Administration and Finance, she led the development and implementation of a new state grant program protecting private non-profit entities from hate crimes and created a new risk management unit to strengthen agency operations and fiscal compliance.

Before joining the DHSES leadership team, Ms. Bink served in various leadership roles within the New York State Division of the Budget, including Unit Chief for Public Protection and General Government from 2014 to 2016, Assistant Unit Chief for Education from 2012-2014, and Associate Budget Examiner for Human Services from 2008-2012.  In these roles, enacted budget proposals developed under Ms. Bink’s leadership resulted in improved core services and agency operations while saving New York taxpayers over $2 billion. Ms. Bink served as the lead in developing and negotiating key budget initiatives and policies, including an expansion of pre-kindergarten programs, a new Paid Family Leave program, Kinship Care program for youth in foster care, and re-entry programs for formerly incarcerated individuals.

Ms. Bink holds a Master of Social Work, a Master of Arts, and a Bachelor of Arts from The State University of Albany in Albany, New York. She lives in Loudonville, New York with her partner Laura and their four children.

With the UAlbany School of Social Welfare about to celebrate its 60th Anniversary, it was only fitting that Bill Serafin kicked off the first podcast episode of the academic year. Bill is a member of the first UAlbany MSW graduating class... the Class of 1967. Bill shares his memories of being a member of the first group of students enrolled at UAlbany's School of Social Welfare. 

The Community and Public Service Program (CPSP) is a popular course for UAlbany students, as they are able to volunteer in the community and earn academic credit at the same time. CPSP Director, Sheri Stevens, joins us to chat about the history of the program, the value it brings to the local community, and the impact of volunteering on students.

We are joined by Visiting Assistant Professor, Caroline Sharkey. Caroline's research centers on collective efficacy and social cohesion to mitigate community violence and school shootings, the impact of trauma and historical trauma, and to address the needs of young people in city contexts. We speak about the role of meso/macro-therapeutic interventions, particularly digital storytelling, to foster positive youth development, empowerment, and reclamation.