In March, NASW-MO will have the pleasure of featuring Lee Westgate, MSW, MBA, LCSW-C (he/ him/ his) for the Keynote Address, “A Lamp, A Lifeboat, or a Ladder: A Call to Heal.”He took the time to answer a few questions by email for NASW-MO Executive Director, Cassie E. Brown in November.
CB: Lee, thank you so much for taking the time! When we have crossed paths professionally, I have observed you to be exceptionally poised. As social workers during this time of stress and strife, I think we could all use a little more of that! What helps you stay centered in difficult situations?
LW: I have always felt deeply that being a social worker is a great calling in my life. For me service to others is a beautiful gift that has afforded me the privilege of bearing witness to the vulnerability of the private life of others. I have embraced the mindset that I stand to learn so much from the people and communities that invite me to be part of their path and journey.
A significant portion of my social work career was spent in the fields of oncology, end of life, and critical care. There is something both profound and sacred to the work of sitting at the beside with patients and families as they confronted the mortal questions that serve as powerful reminders about the preciousness of life and of connection. My patients taught me about courageous love, about sacrifice, about humor, and about what constitutes a good and meaningful life.
Working in healthcare for well over a decade taught me that when very little is guaranteed that time becomes invaluable. My words matter, my actions matter, and my intentions matter. An outcome of this kind of service has since compelled me to think about how I want to spend my time and what kind of person I want to be in the world.
CB: I am always curious what draws someone to the field of social work. What was it for you? What keeps you here?
LW: Ironically, I did not really know what a social worker was until I was in my early 20s. My path to this field was fairly haphazard, given that my undergraduate areas of study were English and Philosophy. Yet I do not think that these educational disciplines are wholly divergent from Social Work as studying English resulted in my appreciation of storytelling and the nuances of language and Philosophy oriented me to the study of justice and critical analysis.
I ultimately found my path to social work during a two year stint of community-based work in my hometown of Baltimore City where my supervisor at the time was pursing his Masters of Social Work (MSW) at the University of Maryland, School of Social Work. I quickly became interested in the MSW program, but I cannot honestly say that I knew what I wanted to do as it seemed otherworldly that I could be someone that could obtain a masters degree to begin with. However, I knew that I was tenacious and I knew that I had a love for people and for helping. These were intrinsic qualities that I believed that I could build on.
I remain connected to this profession, to this field, to this expansive community because all of it gives me hope. It is not until you step back from the substance of this work that you suddenly conclude that it is all terribly irrational. What I mean by that is that this is an entire field that is dedicated to caring for strangers. Everyone who is called to serve in this field has been called to participate in helping people that we do not decidedly know and to participating in a level of seismic social change that we may not even bear witness to in our own lifetime. And yet we cannot imagine doing anything else. Our legacy is our presence. I stay because this is the stuff that gives me hope.
CB: As many of our membership will know, December 1st is World AIDS Day. I know that you spent part of your social work career working with the HIV/AIDS population. Can you tell us briefly what you did and, what was something that you found surprising about working in that part of the field?
LW: For the past several years I have participated in the MidAtlantic AIDS Education and Training Center on behalf of the University of Maryland, School of Social Work in the program Preparing the Future. The aim of this program is to train interprofessional team members on best practices for supporting People Living with HIV. This has been incredibly gratifying work that became increasingly important during the acute phases of the COVID-19 pandemic. During the height of the pandemic, I served on a regional workgroup on COVID and HIV which aimed to apply lessons learned from the HIV Epidemic to supporting medically and socially vulnerable populations during COVID-19 pandemic.
While it is very challenging to try to isolate specific lessons learned from this work, there are a few that come to mind – most notably that HIV is not exclusively an outcome of enduring structural and systemic injustice. What I mean by that is that HIV is a preventable and treatable chronic health condition for which there are viable forms of treatment and yet and still people die resultant from stigma (especially resultant from institutionalize racism, homophobia, and transphobia) and from the commoditization and inaccessibility of care. I feel that it is also essential to recognize in the same breath of the power of community and the resiliencies evidenced in the broad arrangements of mutual aid that endure in spite of community disenfranchisement and disinvestment. This essential work continues to underscore for me that these problems are solvable and demand deep examination and an equally deep systemic reckoning about the structuring of power and resources.
CB: Thanks again! I look forward to your keynote at the NASW-MO Spring Symposium!
LW: I would like to express my deep gratitude to this chapter for all of your amazing heart work and to your members for answering their call to service. I am fortunate to be part of such a beautiful community.
Lee Westgate, MSW, MBA, LCSW-C (he/ him/ his) is an out transgender advocate with more than 15 years of professional experience in social work policy, practice, research, and education. He is a board approved clinical supervisor in the state of Maryland, has held numerous organizational leadership roles, and has served as an educational consultant to a variety of associations and organizational clientele. He has served as a medical social worker in the fields of oncology, critical care, as well as in integrated behavioral health settings. Mr. Westgate has participated in a CSWE-sponsored National Trauma Task Force work-group that focused on the intersection of ethics and trauma-informed practice and he was awarded an immersion fellowship through Boston University to study addiction and behavioral health. He has participated in AIDS Education and Training Center on behalf of the University of Maryland, School of Social Work, Baltimore, MD since 2017 and participated in the MidAtlantic AIDS Education and Training Workgroup on COVID and HIV. Mr. Westgate continues to serve as a Clinical Instructor at the University of Maryland, School of Social Work and his scholarship includes integrated behavioral health, clinical work with LGBTQIA+ populations, working with individuals with chronic and life-threatening illness, healthcare policy, and health equity. As a faculty member, he has received numerous teaching awards including the Camara Jones Faculty Award of 2022, Innovation in Social Work Award of 2022, Exemplary Faculty Member of the Year Award along with the Dean’s Teaching Award for several consecutive semesters. He has been published in The Social Worker, The Journal of Employee Assistance, Infusion Magazine, Provider Magazine, and Social Work Today.
chapter.naswmo@socialworkers.org.