Administration

Darlyne Bailey, M.S., Ph.D. (she/her)

Founder & Executive Director of the Social Justice Initiative

Katherine E. McBride Professor Emeritus & Dean Emeritus of the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research of Bryn Mawr College

Dr. Darlyne Bailey is the Founder & Executive Director of the Social Justice Initiative, what she describes as her "dream come true of making connections guided by love." Recognized in 2017 by the National Association of Social Workers Foundation as an “NASW Social Work Pioneer," and an honored recipient of the 2021 NASW-PA “Phyllis Black Lifetime Achievement Award,” Darlyne remains committed to utilizing individual, organizational, and community-level knowledge and skills to co-create socially just multiculturally humble systems. In 2023, Darlyne was awarded one of the highest honors at Bryn Mawr College, the Faculty McPherson Award for Excellence.

Darlyne is actively engaged in participatory teaching and research, and serves on several local and national boards, including: the Wisconsin home of the Suzanne and Richard Pieper Family Foundation, the national Alliance of Leadership Fellows, and the New York-based Renaissance Center. She also chairs the Board of Trustees of the online associate-degree granting Ultimate Medical Academy in Tampa, FL, and the National Human Services Assembly in Washington, D.C. Darlyne is also editor-in-chief of the 28 years-old journal Reflections: Narratives of Professional Helping. Initiated in 2013, for the past 12 years Darlyne has continued to co-lead (with Hunter College Social Work Professor Emerita Terry Mizrahi) the still national yet, as of January 2023, the 501(c)(3) “Special Commission to Advance Macro Practice Social Work.” In 2018, the Special Commission partnered with the Council on Social Work Education to produce the first-ever Specialized Practice Curricular Guide for Macro Social Work Practice. Most recently, Darlyne served as lead co-editor-in-chief (with Dr. Mizrahi and a team of associate and consulting editors) of the Encyclopedia of Macro Social Work, an inaugural 3-volume and online publication of Oxford University Press and the National Association of Social Workers Press.

Sarah Spath, M.S.S, M.F.A. (she/her)

Director of Programs

Sarah Spath holds a Master of Social Service degree from the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research of Bryn Mawr College, and a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Antioch University Los Angeles. Sarah has worked in a variety of educator roles at the college level, including teaching writing courses and running a peer tutoring program; and in a variety of direct service roles in the human services sector, including as a peer supporter and psychiatric rehabilitation practitioner. She currently Chairs the Ferns Peer-Run Respite Council, the organization that has established the first peer respite in southeastern Pennsylvania. Peer respite is a voluntary, nonclinical, 24/7 residential space where individuals who feel overwhelmed by crisis or emotional distress can receive peer support during a short-term stay. Sarah is interested in how the power of dialogue and mutuality can promote healing both through one-on-one relationships and at the organizational and community level. She started with the SJI while still a student, working as a Graduate Assistant. In 2023 she received the Dr. Kevin J. Robinson Award from the GSSWSR, an award that was established in memory of Dr. Robinson and his commitment to honesty, integrity, equality and fairness, and a commitment to social justice.