When USC President C. L. Max Nikias gave the USC School of Social Work a goal of $75 million as part of the $6 billion Campaign for the University of Southern California, Dean Marilyn Flynn initially thought it might be a good time for her to retire. “Then I thought, what if we actually did it?” she said. “Wouldn’t that be something!”

Six years later, the school’s goal is now becoming a reality. During the 2016 fiscal year, which recently closed on June 30, The Social Work Initiative reached $55 million, or 73 percent, of its goal. More than $20 million has been raised for scholarship funds, $9 million for faculty endowments and an impressive $26 million for research initiatives that will inform best practices in the profession on some of the most pressing issues of our time.

This year, the school saw a 15 percent increase in donations over the previous year, raising a total of $14 million, $300,000 of which represented annual contributions from alumni and friends of the School of Social Work. These numbers also reflect an increase in alumni donors, many of whom made their first gift to the school this year.

“Philanthropy makes innovation possible,” Dean Flynn said. “This historic fundraising progress for the school is the direct result of generous support by alumni, friends, corporations and foundations that see the value in the work of the school, preparing the next generation of students who will influence social change in our world.”

A number of significant gifts were made during the past year that will not only impact the school’s ability to lead major initiatives but will vastly improve the lives of children, veterans and the homeless.

• J. Scott Watt and the Watt Family provided seed funding for the school to launch the national Grand Challenge to End Homelessness, led by Assistant Professor Ben Henwood.
• Funding from the New York Life Foundation will allow the National Center for School Crisis and Bereavement, under the direction of David Schonfeld, professor of practice of social work and pediatrics at the School of Social Work and the Keck School of Medicine of USC, to expand its services and develop the Coalition to Support Grieving Students. The center moved to the School of Social Work in summer 2015.
• The Children’s Data Network received funding for a new community assets research initiative from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, building on prior support from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.
• Wendy Smith Meyer, clinical associate professor and associate dean of curriculum planning and assessment, and her husband, Barry Meyer, endowed a scholarship fund for qualified former foster youth to attend USC, increasing the amount of scholarships available and ensuring the fund remains a solid resource for foster youth to receive an education. They had previously established the fund in 2012.
• Support from the Newman’s Own Foundation and Ralph M. Parsons Foundation to the Los Angeles Veterans Collaborative at the USC Center for Innovation and Research on Veterans & Military Families (CIR) is increasing opportunities to improve the transition for veterans returning home from military service. CIR also recently launched its fourth veterans needs study in San Francisco, funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation.
• USC Telehealth has been able to expand services to caregivers of special needs children in Los Angeles County who lack access to mental health programs with support from a QueensCare Foundation grant.