2020 NASW-Illinois Chapter Statewide Awards

This year, the the National Association of Social Workers, Illinois Chapter (NASW-IL) is honoring the work of some exceptional Illinois social workers and individuals whose work promotes social justice and social change with and on behalf of the people and clients they serve.

Congratulations to this year's 2020 NASW-Illinois Chapter Statewide Award winners!

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD: Faith Johnson Bonecutter (MSW, University of Illinois at Chicago; LCSW) retired as clinical associate professor and associate dean for Academic Affairs and Students at the University of Illinois at Chicago Jane Addams College of Social after 35 years of service. She has over 30 years of full- and part-time social work practice experience in service to families in social service, mental health, and child welfare settings. Her prior research and scholarship have focused on practice in kinship foster care. In addition to her administrative responsibilities as associate dean, she taught in the MSW generalist practice sequence and in the child and family specialization.

SOCIAL WORKER OF THE YEAR: Jude Hines (PhD, University of Illinois at Chicago; MSW, Aurora University; JD, University of Illinois at Chicago; LCSW) is currently school social worker for The School Association for Special Education in DuPage County (SASED), a special education cooperative in DuPage/West Cook Counties. She works with students with a variety of disabilities including deaf and hard-of-hearing and students in transition (18 to 22 years old). Her doctoral research focus was examining associations between internalized heterosexism, outness, relationship satisfaction, and intimate partner violence in lesbian relationships. She has been actively involved with Youth Outlook, an agency that serves LGBTQ+ youth in the western suburbs for 16 years, the Open and Affirming Committee at her church, and she provides LCSW supervision.

EMERGING SOCIAL WORK LEADER: Carina H. Santa Maria (MSW, Dominican University; LCSW) is executive director of Shelter Inc., which provides community-based, emergency, and longer-term housing for children and adolescents who are abused, neglected, dependent, or in need of supervision. She received her master’s degree in social work from Dominican University where she is also an adjunct instructor. Throughout her career, Carina has had a passion for working with youth involved with commercial sexual exploitation, working within the child welfare field for over 10 years.

PUBLIC CITIZEN OF THE YEAR: Amika Tendaji

The NASW-Illinois Chapter is proud of the work of Faith, Jude, Carina, and Amika for their contributions both to the social work profession as well as their communities. To learn more about the awardees, click through to our Awards page to view all press releases.